Workshop #5

Trevor and Laurel share ideas for their PuzzleMaps while Sarah works with Angela, Kendall and Dominique.

Six participating teachers were in attendance for the fifth session in the Learning Through Maps/Mapping Our Learning workshop series. Since we hadn't been together in a while, we began with a "Winter Break Bingo" activity to share a little bit about what had kept us busy during the break. The game emphasized our geoliteracy skills while sharing some of the specific places we had eaten, shopped, relaxed and traveled over the break.

Creating content for the new puzzlemap themes, which the teachers had previously selected, was the main focus for this workshop. Sarah presented the process for thinking about choosing images and categories for the Clue Windows that goes with each puzzle piece and then teachers spent most of their time researching ideas and deciding how to implement this feature in their puzzles. Currently, the teachers are working on the following puzzlemaps:

Curt, who teaches 8th grade language arts and social studies, is focusing on a Civil War map. He plans to have his 8th graders help find Clue Window images and to be involved in researching and writing point clues.
Trevor, Kendall, Dominique and Angela, who all teach 4th grade, worked collaboratively on selecting images and categories for the Clue Windows in their puzzle of Washington State’s ecoregions.
Laurel, who teaches 5th grade, is working on a puzzlemap of the original 13 U.S. Colonies.

Everyone made good progress in their planning and research. The teachers also shared updates on how they have been using PuzzleMap in their classrooms. Trevor brought a few examples of handmade student-created state cereal boxes featuring new "brands" like "Alabama Poppers" and "Big Sky Country Cereal." The cereal boxes showcased key information that students had learned through using the USA puzzlemap, such as facts related to climate, temperature, famous people and Native Americans.