Me on the Map

Teachers and parents, here is a great book for learning about maps, it's called "Me on the Map" by Joan Sweeney. I have completed a first grade lesson plan on maps and have included this book into the lesson. This book is kid friendly and is told from a child's perspective. The maps in this book change from showing just a bedroom to a map of the world. Scale can be discussed along with the use of a map key. When describing scale, start out with a definition and then give examples in the book of maps with different scales. I found myself explaining scale by zooming a picture in and out. In the class that I was in they were talking about cities and what you would find in cities. By using maps students can learn how to find items in the city or find the city on a larger map. After reading this book, have the students/child make their own map. To make a map, you have to look at the room from up above (a bird's eye view). Everything is not drawn out perfectly, so a map key is helpful to explain what items are. There is so much that you can do while learning about maps and the book "Me on the Map" really is a great foundation to start out with to introduce maps. So the next time you are learning about maps, consider reading the book "Me on the Map" and see what you and your students/children think.