Thanks to the help of friends at the Texas State University Geography Department, kinder students at Freiheit Elementary were able to “travel” around Texas and learn directions using a giant 12' x 12' Texas map. As a part of their library lesson about Texas, students walked across the map and learned how to find cities, how to follow highways and rivers and how to move north, south, east and west.
They traveled from New Braunfels to well-known places around the state like Houston and Dallas, and some far away places they may have never heard of before, like the Waco suspension bridge and the King Ranch.
“When I was on vacation in west Texas last summer, there were some places so remote that we didn’t have cell service and relied on our paper atlas to get around,” said Sandra Plumb, librarian at Freiheit Elementary. “Using a map is a life skill that everyone needs, especially in areas where internet service is unreliable.”
The map kit, which is free to use for surrounding area schools, includes lesson plans, props for marking locations on the map and other interactive activities.