Materials for the lesson

 We ask the children to bring small boxes from their house in different shapes and sizes. (Match boxes, from medicines or cosmetics, cube-shaped, rectangular, etc. but about the size such of a match box).

4 large cardboards of (70cm x 100cm).

Plain paper by the meter would also do but it tears-up easily.

Wide adhesive, transparent, packaging tape.
Double paste tape.
Markers.
Pieces of paper in various colors (mainly green, brown and gray).
Toothpicks or/and skewer sticks.
Yellow sticker papers for small-sized notes.                         The Teachers’ Bell.

Layout of the classroom

The desks at the sides, empty space in the middle to lay the cardboard.

1^st Phase

Under the supervision of the teacher, the cardboards are connected with the transparent packaging tape to form one large surface.

The teacher, through discussion, defines the large public buildings in the area: First our school and then all the other schools, stadiums, churches, parks. At the places where they are found he puts boxes (school/s, church) or papers (Green Paper for the Park) and sticks them with pieces from the double-sided tape.
Slowly, a 3D map of our district starts to form..

2^nd Phase

He tells the children to place a box where their home is in relation with the district’s public buildings.
(In relation to the park, church my house is located behind, beside, with regard to our school, my house is far away or next, etc.).
On the stickers we write our name sticking it on a toothpick and pinning it on the box that is our home. The same is done in public buildings and places (there we can have skewers-stick to stand out).

3^rd Phase

 So, we slowly form a 3D colorful map / model, where the teacher  can present the whole section “MY NEIGBORHOOD”
But also the next lesson of “ORIENTATION”
The sun rises from the east (my right): So opposite is the West (left), North (in front of me) and South (behind me).

4^TH Phase

Improvisations.
How do we go home from school. We write notes in our text-book to try to remember the streets.
Next to every point we pass, we write a phrase that suits it:

Bank: Can I deposit the 2 euro I have for cheese pie? Oh, what a long queue was outside the bank.

Church: Prayer
Park: Trees are green, etc.

5^th Phase

In relation to what the children have written, we can create small to be played in front of the rest of the class within the aims and subject of the lesson.

For example:  Bank
The pupil: I have 2 euro what can I do with them?
An employee: Do you want to make a deposit or to withdraw?
Student: My dad gave them to me to buy a cheese pie.
Employee: Make a deposit now and at the break make withdrawal  to buy a cheese pie.