Open Wide, Look Inside

Are We There Yet? by Alison Lester is a book that chronicles the journey of a family around Australia.  The book begins with a map of Australia and the route that the family took around the country.  During the book, the family rides around the country in a camper.  The family travels to many different places and at each place some of the geological features are explained.  Each time they move to a different part of Australia it is represented on a small map of Australia on the top of the page.  At each stop the youngest child asks “are we there yet?”

Curriculum Connections
This book is a way to look at map skills, as well as how geographic features affect clothing, shelter, etc.  This matches to Virginia SOL’s 1.4 and 1.6.

Additional Resources

• Nullabor Travel Guide has a website with some pictures of the Head of the Bight as well as whale watching that is mentioned in the book.
• Penguin Publishing provides a number of lesson plans associated with Are We There Yet which touches on reading, science, and geography.
• The Melbourne Tourist website looks at the Twelve Apostles which is a scenic rock formation that the family visits in the book.
  

Book: Are We There Yet?
Author and Illustrator: Alison Lester
Publisher: Kane/Miller Book Publishers
Publication Date: January 2005
Pages: 32 pages
Grade Range: 1-3
ISBN-13: 978-1929132737

Introduction:

“Dinosaurs Travel: A guide for families on the go“, written by Laurie Krasny Brown and Marc Brown, is a wonderful book for young students exploring the many different aspects of traveling. The book is a great resource for young children to learn many important facts and tips about traveling. Each page is filled with important information as well as crammed with interesting, helpful pictures, covering a wide variety of topics.

Summary:

 This story is a compact guide for families when they are getting ready to travel, as well as while they are traveling. The story covers important topics such as getting ready for a trip, getting from place to place and all different modes of transportation, as well as eating and sleeping away from home. Important tips are given throughout the books on things to do and not to do when traveling. For example, when visiting a new place:

“No matter where you travel, it will be different from home. Here’s your chance to try all kinds of new things!”

“Bring maps and guidebooks with you and ask for directions if you get lost.”

 “Some places you visit will give you a chance to speak a new language.”

 The story covers many different ways of traveling, such as on foot, using wheels, by car, riding the bus or subways, as well as by planes and boats. These different modes of transportation discussed help children learn about different geographical characteristics of a specific place. The language of the story is very simple and pictures are very descriptive, yet the information given on each page of the story is extremely important and helpful for young students to learn.

Curriculum Connections:

This story is important to be read by students who are beginning to learn about travel, or who are preparing to take a trip.The book also helps students understand basic uses and skills of maps, including basic references to land, water, cities, and roads (VA SOL1.4 (a)).  Students begin to also understand differences between their home and other places, specifically referring to food, clothing, language, shelter, and transportation (VA SOL 1.6) from reading this book.

Additional Resources:

1. This website provides a song from an education music player. The song provides an interesting way to learn detailed information about planet Earth, including Earth’s composition and other geographic information. The song begins “Our Earth is like a giant Grapefruit..” and tells a lot about the make up of our planet.

2. National Geographic’s website for kids, “Amazing Animals,” explores many different geographic concepts , equipped with intense photos and information about all different animals, including bats, tigers, spiders, etc.

3. This website provides 101 car travel games and tips for kids to use while they are traveling. Some examples listed are creating a travel journal, car sick trips, and games such as “Pirates of the the Caravan.”

General Information:

Book: Dinosaurs Travel

 Author: Laurie Krasny Brown and Marc Brown

Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers

Publication Date: January 1988

Pages: 32

Grade Range: 1-2 grade

ISBN: 978-0316112536

My America A Poetry Atlas of the United States selected by Lee Bennett Hopkins illustrated by Stephen Alcorn is a great book that includes many important facts about each state. This book of poem is a creative way for students to learn about the different states and regions. The illustrations in the book make it appealing to many children. The illustrations make the poems come to life. This book is a great teaching tool for students.

On the east bank of the Potomac,
lies Washington D.C.,
the capital of our Nation
which stands for liberty

Curriculum Connection
This book could be used to read a poem each day about the different regions of the United States. This book can also help the students learn more information about our Nation’s capital and information about Virginia. (SOL 1.4 d) This book could be very useful at a station where the students could take time to look at the illustrations and poems. There is so much for the students to look at so it could take the students some time to go through.
Additional Resources
Teaching ideasis a great resource for teachers to go to when looking for creative ideas about teaching geography. This website has great activities for students to complete.
Activities for kids provides teachers with activities for their students to complete. These activities get the students involved in the learning. This website provides good ideas to introduce geography.
This articleis a great tool for teachers. This article provides many good resources for teachers and excellent ways on implementing activities in the classroom.
General Information
Book: My America
Author: Lee Bennett Hopkins
Illustrator: Stephen Alcorn
Publisher: Simon and Schuster Children’s Publishing
Publication Date: 2000
Pages:96
Grade Range: 1-5
ISBN: 0-689-81247-7

Introduction:
Being able to read maps is a strategy that is very important. Maps are in our lives on a daily basis and knowing what the different symbols means is important when it comes to reading the maps. National Geographic has provided an excellent book to help get children develop their math skills. The content presented is age appropriate and provides definations for the different symbols that they will encompass on different maps.

Summary:
Beginner’s World Atlas begins with a description of what a map is and puts the map into the contact of the student by what mapping their background would look like. In addition, it explains what a compass and scale on the map are.  The next 2 pages show earth in several different dimensions to help the student gain a better understanding of their home planet. Their is an example of the physical and political world with descriptions of what they show to follow. Furthermore, the book explains what the students will gain out of their reading. The rest of the map talks about the different contients giving specific information on the land regions, water, climate, plants and animals.

Curriculum Connections:
This book could be used at the end of lesson on map skills to make sure that students understand the basic map skills. In addition, the students could use the book to help them 2.6)when constructing their own map skills using a title, map, legend, and compass rose. In addition, by having this book in their classroom library the students should be able to refer to them when they need to locate the 2.4a) United States, China, and Egypt on world maps. Finally, they will be able to use the maps in the books to help them locating the 2.5a) equator, the seven continents, and five oceans on maps and globes.

Additional Resources:
In order to provide more information on maps and other related Geography topics try visiting Usefulness of Maps.

To help students with their technology skills and provide them a fun game to improve the geopgraphy skills try Geospy.

The article, Are You Map Savvy, provides basic information on other different types of map and why map skills are important. This information could be additional information to provide to your students and help answer the question Why is this important to me?

General Information:
Book: National Geographic Beginner’s World Atlas
Author: Natioanl Geographic Inc.
Illustrator: Tony Stone Images
Publisher: National Geograpic Society
Publication Date: November 2009
Pages: 64
Grade Range: 1-3
ISBN: 9780792242116

The book There’s a Map on My Lap! by Tish Rabe is a great introduction to maps using Dr. Seuss and his catchy rhyming phrases. This book introduces children to a compass rose, a globe, scales, types of maps, directions, and even population. Each topic is covered over a few pages and this book can be split up into different lessons. Key definitions are given on pages where a new mapping term is used and also in the back of the book in the glossary. Kids will enjoy learning about all aspects of mapping with Dr. Seuss as they learn reasons why maps are used and how to use them.

Curriculum Connections:

There’s a Map on My Lap can be used as a great introduction book to many different aspects of maps such as scales, types of maps, making a map, making a legend, etc. The book can be used to cover certain topics at a time instead of reading it all the way through as well. This book covers VA SOLs K.4, 1.4, 1.5, and 2.6.

Additional Resources:

• The National Geographic website has a page devoted to lesson plan ideas for teachers and they are split into grade levels. The lesson on “Neighborhood Services: Where they are and why?” can be used with this book as students explore their neighborhood and create a map of their own.
• Global Alliance has a lesson plan where teachers create a map of their room and school with the students. This can work well  with young children entering a new school so they can learn where different rooms are and where everything is in relation to each other.
• KidsGeo is a website devoted to different aspects of geography for kids. There are different sections devoted to teaching kids about scales, legends, why maps are useful, etc. There are also geography games for children to play.
• BrainPopJR gives kids great information about the different aspects of a map and some activities parents and teachers can use with kids using maps.

Title: There’s a Map on my Lap!
Author:  Tish Rabe
Publisher: Random House
Publication Date: 2002
Pages:45
Grade Range: K-2nd
ISBN:9780375810992