senoracmt

Map Talk

When I started the process of National Geographic educator certification, I was only thinking about the obvious resources… the magazine, the documentaries, the photos… I never knew their MapMaker kits existed! Thank you so much Abra Koch for this inspiration…

But it wasn’t just finding the maps! Abra told me she does “map talks” or “map stories”…. why have I never thought of that!? It is such a great idea!!!

This week, in conjunction with my Arctic Crime Unit, I have used a street map to “map storytell” the backstory of Mrs Claus’s disappearance and the North Polar Region table top map from the MapMaker kits. Both led to a lot of aha moments and a great visual of where things are happening!

Try bringing maps into your stories! I think you’ll love it!

Published by senoracmt

I began teaching Spanish in Illinois in 1994. I have taught levels 1-4 in a small rural high school, 8th grade introductory Spanish, Biology 1, and 101 and 102 at the community college level. My Spanish classes are partnered with the community college to offer students 8 semester hours of dual credit on completion of Spanish 4. In 2011 I met Carol Gaab and Kristy Placido and have since co-authored the book "La hija del sastre" with Carol Gaab and authored the novels "La Calaca Alegre", "Bianca Nieves y los 7 toritos." "Vector," "48 horas","Bananas", "Sostenible", and "Papálotl" through Fluency Matters. In 2006 I became National Board certified and I have been serving as a mentor both for candidates seeking certification in world languages other than English and a virtual mentor for candidates in all certificate areas. I completed my Masters degree in Spanish education in 2011 and did my research on the use of Understanding by Design to create meaningful cultural units for the language classroom. I am a frequent presenter on this topic, please consider me if you are interested in a workshop on backward design. In 2013 I was named the ICTFL Foreign Language teacher of the year and in 2014 I was selected as CSCTFL's teacher of the year. In November of 2014 I was lucky enough to be one of the five finalists for the ACTFL National Teacher of the Year in San Antonio, TX. What a "Cinderella" experience! You can reach me via email at carrie at somewheretoshare dot com.

4 comments

  1. I love this! Ever since you tweeted about becoming certified through the National Geographic Educator Program, my interest has peaked! I’ve been researching the process, their site, and all of the cool resources available to teachers. Your lessons are so awesome, and your students look like they are having a blast learning! Congratulations! It’s amazing how many interactive resources are out there to help give our lessons more pizzazz, which, in turn, gives our students a deeper understanding of the material. Thank you for all you do…you are an inspiration! 🙂

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