What do you see?” Once they get the idea, invite volunteers to give the directions and call on classmates to follow them. Have students refer to the drawn compass rose to follow oral directions, such as “Walk east and pull down the shade,” or “Hop three steps south and look to the left. Replicate the directions by drawing a compass rose in chalk on the classroom floor, or alternately on the playground blacktop. Show students the true cardinal directions using a compass app on a smartphone or tablet.Have them use the compass rose to determine the direction words for each blank line. Give each student a copy of the Using a Compass Rose worksheet. Ask: Which ocean is east of Africa? (Indian) Which ocean is north of all the continents? (Arctic) Ask: Which continent is to the north of South America? (North America) Which continent is to the east of Europe? (Asia) Which continent is to the west of Australia? (Africa)Īsk: What is all the way to the west on this map? (the Pacific Ocean) Explain that an ocean is a very large body of salt water, and Earth has four of them. Ask a volunteer to come to the board and point to and name the seven continents. Ask: What is farthest south on this map? (Antarctica) Point out that Antarctica is a continent-a large body of land.

Earth is made up of large bodies of land and water. You can help students remember the clockwise order of the directions on a compass rose with the phrase “ Never Eat Soggy Waffles.”Įxplain that this map shows the world. Explain that the N stands for “north.” Write on the board what N represents, having students help to name the other directions for S, E, and W. Ask a volunteer to point to the compass rose and name the letters around it. Explain that a compass rose is a symbol that shows directions on a map. Write “compass” before “rose” on the board. Ask if it can be something besides a flower. Write the word “rose” on the board and ask students what it is. Invite the class to read aloud the last two lines of each verse in response to the question in the first two lines, which you will read. You can also give students a copy of the handout or project the poem. Ask them to raise their hands when they hear one. Beforehand, ask students to listen for directional words.

Read aloud a poem about cardinal directions.Įngage students by reading aloud the poem “Geese on the Go” on the handout.

Download map compass