Materials for the class

Bussola, cartellini con punti cardinali, scotch, stereo, musica

Compass, cardboards with cardinal points, scotch, stereo, music.

Layout of the classroom

Phase 1-2: the activity will be performed in the classroom.

Phase 3-4: the activity will be performed in the gym.

Phase 1

The teacher explains the topic and introduces the cardinal points. She/he can make a comparison with the past, explaining how people used to orient themselves. She/he pays attention on the importance of the sun as an all-important element to individuate cardinal directions.

Phase 2

The teacher shows the compass to the children and explains them how it works. Together with the children she/he finds out the cardinal points of the classroom and they report them on a cardboard. They repeat the activity with different rooms of the school.

Phase 3

The activity of the second phase is repeated in the gym. The teacher introduces the topic of directions and asks the children to walk in a precise direction in a straight line, listening to the rhythm of the music.

The activity will be repeated paying attention on cardinal points: the children will changing direction and walk towards the cardinal point said by the teacher.

Phase 4

The teacher speaks with the children about the topic and poses them questions, in order to understand if the topic is clear to them (where does the sun rise? if the north is in front of me, which cardinal point is on my right? …).