As a part of our social science topic - directions, we have organised a treasure hunt for our 2nd graders. You see, in directions, we learned about north and south, east and west. Most of the children were actually able to name the direction before we even started the topic anyway but how well did they know the concept and could they apply it in the real life? After all, being a Cambridge school applying the knowledge is like the whole point.
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Well, to asses what those names of directions meant to them, we went outside. All the children knew about the four cardinal directions but only one of them was actually able to demonstrate it outside, with the help of the sun and our body shadow. I was happy - it meant i can actually teach them something! :)
So, we went back to the basics. We made a compass in the class from scratch! Using a petri dish that we got from our bio lab, a floating foamy circle shape we borrowed from the math department, a needle and some water for our circle to float and of course the physics lab supplied us with magnets.
Getting the "wow" effect from kids is always the best and trust me, they were mesmerized! Such a simple, inexpensive device but so magical :) Most importantly, they made it them self. Hands on, that is what counts.
After directions were clear and kids were able to truly understand how compass works (by saying "truly", i of course mean age appropriate explanations!) we put it to the test by reading simple maps. It worked! Marking compass rose on the map with directions was always the first step. Everything else fell into place after that.
A crown event to put our knowledge to work was the treasure hunt. Majority of clues were related to the directions. Kids had fun, they applied their knowledge and learned a lot in the process!
Treasure hunts are an excellent tool to teach children patience, team work, focused reading and following instructions. Teams should be small (3 to 5 children). No matter what the topic is you can make the clues accordingly. The level of difficulties can be easily adjusted to fit every grade. For best learning experience it is absolutely beneficial to have some sort of analysis after wards where all the kids share what went great, what not so great and how could they improve. In such cases treasure hunts can be a very empowering learning tool while also being super fun!
.
Well, to asses what those names of directions meant to them, we went outside. All the children knew about the four cardinal directions but only one of them was actually able to demonstrate it outside, with the help of the sun and our body shadow. I was happy - it meant i can actually teach them something! :)
So, we went back to the basics. We made a compass in the class from scratch! Using a petri dish that we got from our bio lab, a floating foamy circle shape we borrowed from the math department, a needle and some water for our circle to float and of course the physics lab supplied us with magnets.
Getting the "wow" effect from kids is always the best and trust me, they were mesmerized! Such a simple, inexpensive device but so magical :) Most importantly, they made it them self. Hands on, that is what counts.
After directions were clear and kids were able to truly understand how compass works (by saying "truly", i of course mean age appropriate explanations!) we put it to the test by reading simple maps. It worked! Marking compass rose on the map with directions was always the first step. Everything else fell into place after that.
A crown event to put our knowledge to work was the treasure hunt. Majority of clues were related to the directions. Kids had fun, they applied their knowledge and learned a lot in the process!
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| All you need for a treasure hunt is good imagination to make the clues. |
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| Darsh reading the clue number 2 to his team mates. |
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| Jagannath was quickly reminded by all to read the clue out loud so everyone can hear it. |
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