Published: 2026-04-26
Home in Place
Learners collaboratively build a story map of their school or surrounding area.
SUBJECTArt, Geography, Social Studies
GRADE3rd Grade
Learning Objectives
- I understand that place is a representation of home.
- I can construct maps and other graphic representations of both familiar and unfamiliar places. (D2.Geo.1.3-5. C)
Essential Questions
- What does home mean to me?
- What memories come to mind when I think of home?
- What would a wall, building, sidewalk say if it could talk? What stories would it tell?
- Where are we?
- How can maps help us make meaning of our experiences?
Lesson Plan
What would a wall, building, or sidewalk say if it could talk? What stories would it tell?
Prompt your learners with this question. Ask them to think of the stories their classroom could tell. What sounds, words, scenes have these four walls witnessed? Take some answers from the class.
What about the playground outside? What do you think the playground has witnessed? Or that bathroom in the corner where everyone goes to meet up during classes?
Activate your learner’s imagination and allow for time to reminisce and tell stories.
Materials
INCLUDED MATERIALS
NEEDED MATERIALS
- Anchor chart (and the anchor charts from lesson 2)
- Mapping activity sheets printed on 11×17 paper, plus a teacher example
- 11×17 tracing paper
- Colored pencils, crayons, markers
- Scrap paper for planning
- Paper clips to hold the tracing paper in place
- Magnets
- Optional (for the movement break) — a basic map of your classroom and small objects to hide
Geographies of Home · 10 lessons
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