I really enjoyed looking at the John Smith map in class last night. I was really surprised by how much I had never noticed in the map. I have a copy hanging up at home and I’ve looked at it fairly often, but there were a lot of things I had never noticed. This reminded me that I’ll probably find something new every time I look at the map, much like whenever you find new details in a book you’ve read a hundred times before. I was also really excited to see what my students will find that I haven’t seen yet in the map. I would definitely like to use this with my students, at any grade level. To modify it for the younger students I might have them draw their own version of the map and write down or turn and talk with a partner any questions they have while drawing their own maps to get them to notice and explore as many details as possible. There’s a lot to be learned from this map that I think the younger students can also pick up on.
The questions that everyone came up with based on the map were also really interesting. I found myself coming up with questions I had never thought of while looking at it before, because I was trying to think about what my students might wonder about it. For example, where is Richmond on the map? Henrico County? I think I’d like to give students two copies of this map. Starting with the original, and then create a copy to give them after they’ve noticed and wondered for a while with some of their favorite landmarks such as Richmond, Henrico, Busch Gardens, Kings Dominion, etc. so that they can see how their world fits into John Smiths world. That could lead to a great discussion on change over time and how the people and terrain have changed from the time John Smith drew his map to the present.
Marlea, first of all I love knowing that you have a copy of John Smith’s map on your wall at home! I like maps too and have framed a few myself. I also like knowing that even though you have looked at your John Smith map at home many times you still found new things to notice! I agree with you that providing students with this map and one for themselves to maybe label with current day sites that fit into the exact location JS explored would be a valuable and meaningful lesson. I want to do that right now!
When I taught 7th grade I received free maps from the VA Dept of Transportation to use in my class. I first taught MAP FOLDING 101 :0), then we learned about the highways and how to read a map to prepare them for getting their driver’s license one day! Seventh graders loved thinking about that! What I found most interesting was seeing their reaction when they found where they lived on the map in relation to the big places like KD and BG. It was awesome! I know you are looking forward to this activity in your own class one day.