Lesson Plan: 5th Grade Life Maps

Fifth Grade Life Maps:

5^th Graders were required to write a letter to their new teacher during the first week of school. The letter was a personal introduction for the teacher as well as a way to list hobbies and interests:

Dear Mrs. L,

            My name is ___________. I live in _______ with my ____________. I have __________sister/brother. I have a pet ___________. His/her name is ________.

I am _______ years old. My hobbies include ___________, ________, etc.

            Most people think I am ___________.

Mr. Keller and I were doing a push-in, meaning we visited a classroom or grade and taught a lesson that pertained to what they were learning. I wanted to reuse an activity I did in my teaching reading class called a Life Learning Map. Instead of the map being about learning, I wanted the students to map out the subjects of each sentence in their letters.

We were working with the entire grade level AND, and there was a fire drill that day. I had barely finished writing out my letter to the 5^th grade when the alarms went off. Students lined up and followed procedure perfectly and the drill went off without a problem.

Students returned to the room ready to work and listen. I did not know all of their names yet so whenever I called on someone I asked for their name before their answer. 5^th graders were very receptive to pointing out the subjects in their sentences and marked up the drafts of their letters (the teacher had the final copies at home to respond to). After students were done with their circling or highlighting we allowed them to choose one color of construction paper for their map. They then returned to their work areas and started to draw.

Step 1: demonstrate highlighting/circling subjects in sentences.

Step 2: draw subject from sentence

Step 3: model possible directions of arrows on map

Step 4: distribute materials

Ms. Kanak