Maps

I noticed in Take Note Kerikeri a two pack of large laminated maps - one of New Zealand, one of the world, for $20. It reminded me of a great activity that Robyn at Oruaiti School did, where she taped a map of NZ to the large table in the non-fiction area and then put a relevant book on display or made a "quiz" - find Lake Taupo, which island is Christchurch on, find 5 towns beginning with W, etc. It was as popular as Where's Wally ! You could make it a competition where the week's entries go in a box for a draw, or it could be a different question each day... Robyn changed the maps each term.

I read an interesting article* about how three schools used NEMP assessment tasks to help them with their own in-school assessment. One school in Otago was concerned that their pupils' NZ map knowledge was limited due to comparatively few opportunities for travel and they used a NEMP Social Studies task "The Map" to assess pupils' knowledge of the location of 11 prominent places in NZ... Surprisingly, some students struggled to place their own home town on a map, though a relatively high proportion identified the location of Waitangi following on from a teaching unit on the Treaty... The school developed strategies for their teaching as a result of this information. If you google this title "using NEMP assessment tasks in the classroom" it will be the first result that comes up as a PDF.

*Eley, L. & Hague, R. (2002). Using NEMP assessment tasks in the classroom: Three schools’ experiences. New Zealand Principal, 17(4), 23–29.