This week the Rivers Class has been thinking more deeply about the process of making a map. On Monday, we took a walk down 2 blocks of Willow Avenue to observe the buildings and anything else we could see.
We focused on the organization of everything we saw. We saw the school first, then the parking lot, then the rectory, and then the church.
After crossing the street, we saw the hospital and bike parking, and two parking meters, along with many different "No Parking" signs.
It was a delightful way to open our eyes to our neighborhood and community. Children noticed many things that perhaps they had not seen before.
Ms. Zangrilli, Lorelei's mom, took notes and listed everything we saw so that we could remember everything later.
In the classroom since our walk, small groups have been working together to do two things. The first is to remember the order of everything we saw and to place them on the map in that order. It is difficult work and we have to consult our memories, reciting the places we passed, and our notes often.
The second task is working to make our symbols effective as communication and recording. Does this building really look like the church? What do we need to add to make it easier to understand?
Drafting, adding colors and the inventive spellings of words as labels, we are getting closer to an accurate map of Willow Avenue.
