Happiness is the Journey, Not the Destination

This week, Mrs. Parquette’s fifth graders studied parts of a map. They learned about map keys, symbols, drawing to scale, and the compass rose. Finally, students drew their own map of Saint James School! Using rulers and guides, the buildings and streets were drawn to scale and labeled. Students recorded themselves giving directions to our elementary science lab using cardinal directions and distance on SeeSaw, our digital portfolio app.

Map skills promote spatial thinking, allowing students to comprehend and analyze phenomena related to the places and spaces around them. Spatial thinking is an important skills that students can develop as they learn geography, Earth, and environmental sciences. Young students also grow their language skills as they collaborate with peers, parents, and teachers and communicate about spatial relationships. Spatial thinking skills and activities like the STJ map project reinforce the skills that may allow our students to be at an advantage in our increasingly global and technological society. In a world with apps like Waze, Google Maps, and Roadtrippers, map reading has become a lost art (I know it has for me)! Mrs. Parquette and our fifth grade team works hard to prepare students for the next step and think critically.