Lesson Plan

Lesson Plan: Map of America and the Four Directions

Background

The class has been studying the map of the world.  They have looked at globes and maps in the classroom and done various activities to learn the geography of the world they live in.

English Proficiency Level: Intermediate.  All students in the class are non-native speakers.

Grade Level:4
The classroom has 15 students.

Preparation

Content Objectives

Students will focus on the map of America.  They will explore the geography of America and begin to learn where each state on the map is located.  At the end of the lesson, they will be able to point out where they live on the map and have learned the directions: North, East, South and West.

Language Objectives

Students will work together in pairs to see which states they already know and try to label them.  The teacher will put up a large map on the board with each state labeled along with a large compass.  The students will work with a partner to label the states they missed or got incorrect.  Students will have to answer questions such as, "where is your state located?  What state is south of Michigan?" and other directions and commands involving the map of the United States and directions.

Materials (given below)

1.     Blank maps of the United States with an unlabeled compass.

2.     Large map of the United States and large compass to be placed on the chalkboard.

3.     Large signs to be placed in each corner of the classroom, labeled N, E, S, W for the four directions.

4.     Computer with speakers/speaker system.

5.     Sheet with all fifty states in alphabetical order listed.

6.     Stopwatch

7.     Prizes

Motivation

Start the lesson by playing the song, “Fifty Nifty United States” on the computer.  Play one time through, and then ask the students to try to sing along looking at their sheet of paper with the states (in alphabetical order, similar to the song) listed.  While listening, have the students circle the states that they have never heard of before.  Then have them hand in the sheets of paper.  The students will then have sixty seconds to try and name as many states as they can remember.  The student who remembers the most states correctly wins a prize.

Presentation

Hand out the blank copies of the map of the United States.  Pair off students to try to label as many as they can.  Then the teacher will present her large copy of the map and have the students work together once again to fill in any blanks or incorrect labeled states.  The teacher will walk around to ensure all maps are labeled correctly.  The teacher will point to each state, and say its name out loud.  The students will repeat the name out loud.

Then they will be introduced to the compass while they are back in their seats.  They will label their own compasses.  The teacher will walk around to ensure each compass is labeled correctly.  Then the teacher will ask questions to students such as, “Do you live west of Florida?  What state is east of Michigan?” etc.

Practice

The teacher will put the large map of the United States on the floor.  The students will stand on the outside while the teacher calls out, “walk to Illinois,” etc.  The students will walk around the map to visually learn where each state is located.  Then they will practice the four directions.  The corners of the classroom will be labeled with N, E, S, and W.  The teacher will say directions such as “go to the most northern point in the room” and the students will run to the “N” corner.  They will go back to the floor map and the teacher will say directions such as, “go south of New York,” etc. 

Review

They will listen to the song again twice.  The first time they will just listen, the second time they will sing along.  The students will again be asked to list the fifty states in sixty seconds.  The student who was able to list the most will get a prize. 

Homework

The students will have a worksheet for homework that has different maps.  The first map will be of the world and the students will have to color in where the United States is.  The next map will be of the United States and they will be asked to label and color the map.  They will also have to fill in a blank compass.  There will be questions on the worksheet below the map of the United States such as, “which state is directly east of Washington?  List two states that are south of Michigan.”

Worksheet for Homework:

 

Lyrics:

Fifty nifty United States from thirteen original colonies;

Fifty nifty stars in the flag that billows so beautif'ly in the breeze.
Each individual state contributes a quality that is great.
Each individual state deserves a bow, we salute them now.
Fifty nifty United States from thirteen original colonies,
Shout 'em, scout 'em, Tell all about 'em,
One by one till we've given a day to ev'ry state in the U.S.A.
Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut;
Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana;
Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan;
Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada;
New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina,
North Dakota, Ohio;
Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas;
Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming,
Al -a -o ming.
North, south, east, west, in our calm, objective opinion,
(name of home state) is the best of the
Fifty nifty United States from thirteen original colonies,
Shout 'em, scout 'em, Tell all about 'em,
One by one till we've given a day to ev'ry state in the good old U. S. A.

Sheet with states in order:

  Song Link: Fifty Nifty United States
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ivpUBvOeD1s