Activities! On Directions, Perimeter and Maps (with bonus videos)
Every other Wednesday, we post selections from our vast archive of Early Math & Early Childhood Ed activities.
Please tell your friends, colleagues, librarians & parents. Thank you!
Hello!
This week in Activities we’re moving and going places! We have two stories about directions, a story about perimeter and another about mapping. There are also two videos, including one from that toe-tapper, The Main Street Kids’s Club: A Mathstart Musical. Let’s get started!
FROM MATHSTART
Mathstart is a series of 63 storybooks organized into three levels for Pre-K through Grade 4. Each story teaches a different mathematical skill.
• Level 1, Pre-K/Kindergarten
Bug Dance (Directions): The bugs in Coach Caterpillar's gym class are learning a dance, but Centipede keeps tripping over his own feet!
Two steps to the left, two steps to the right.
One hop forward, one hop backward.
Turn right!
Wiggle left. Wiggle right.
Do the Bug Dance every night!
In addition to learning basic directions, children gain a foundation in important mapping skills. PDF Activity Sheet
• Level 2, Grades 1—2
Racing Around (perimeter): Mike loves riding his bicycle. This year he wants to ride in the annual 15-kilometer race around Perimeter Park, just like Justin and Marissa and all the other big kids. His practice ride around the athletic field was only 6 km, while the ride around the zoo was just 9 km. It's going to be a tough race. Good thing Bingo the dog is there to cheer him on!
Perimeter—the distance around a shape—is an important measurement concept for children to understand. PDF Activity Sheet
• Level 3, grades 2—4
Treasure Map (mapping) Buried treasure! Matthew can't wait to tell his friends in the Elm Street Kids' Club about the cool map he found. It's over 50 years old and filled with clues that lead them to the new Wonderland Park. Petey the Parrot cheers them on as they try to make sense of dated directions. The clues don't always match—a dirt path has now become a paved sidewalk and there's the mystery of what happened to the big old tree. But they finally find the "X" that marks the spot and start digging.
It's a time capsule! The kids decide to add their own treasures to surprise the next group of friends that finds the map. Even Petey contributes a loose tail feather.
Map-reading uses several mathematical skills, including interpreting symbols and understanding scale and direction. PDF Activity Sheet
Where to find Mathstart books
FROM I SEE I LEARN
I See I Learn is a series of 16 stories that follow the adventures of the children in Miss Cathy’s class at Ready, Set Pre-K in See-and-Learn City. Each story focuses on a different social, emotional, health & safety and cognitive skill important for success in school and in life. For Pre-K / Kindergarten.
Left, Right, Emma! (Cognitive Skills: Knowing Left and Right): Emma loves to march around her house. She is excited to lead a march at school. But how will Emma know when to turn left and when to turn right?
Understanding basic directions allows young children to follow instructions, give others directions, and develop strong spatial sense.
Let’s go! Left! Right!
Where to find I See I Learn books
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