Follow directiosn and

draw

Try having students, or the teacher, follow the directions on an overhead pro-jector while the class watches.

This is a great method to in-toduce stu-dents to di-rections. Variation

Unit 2: Directions

Theme: Directions

Method

Ask students to write out the exact directions for

drawing something. Make sure to keep in mind colours,

location of writing utensils, and appropriate descriptive

words.

Put students into pairs. Have them sit back to back with

their face in the opposite direction while one student

draws and the other gives directions. Then have them

change positions and repeat the process.

Have students analyze their drawings and direc-

tions. Did the drawing turn out correctly? How clear

were the directions and did the drawer listen to

them? Ask students to give each other some sug-

gestions at how they could make their directions

more clear.

Ask students go back to their desks and work some

more on making their directions even more clear,

find another partner and repeat the process. Did

the drawing turn out clearly now? Was this because

of the directions or the listening

Suggested age: 3+

Materials:

-Paper for drawing

-Drawing uten-sils (crayons, pencils,etc).

1. Cut out and laminate 2 copies of any set of game flashcards. You will also need 4 arrows, saying 'Up', 'Down', 'Right' and 'Left'.

2. Stick small pieces of Velcro on both sides of cards.

3. You can use any number of cards, but I found that no more than 9 work well for 4 year olds, around 12-16 with 5- and 6-year olds. It also depends how long you want the game to last.

4. Divide the kids to two teams and line them up.

5. Sticking the cards the board one by one, make the kids shout what they see. Continue until one set of cards is on the board.

6. Practice up, down, right and left and stick the arrows on correspon-ding sides of the board.

Directions game: Up, down, right, left

7. Slowly turn the cards over so the identical backgrounds

are visible, again using this opportunity to practice the names of the objects on

the cards.

8. Make team captains play 'rock, paper, scissors' to determine which team

starts.

9. The first child draws a flashcards from the spare set. Stick that card on top

of the board and keep your finger on it.

10. The child has to direct you to get to the identical card by saying 'Up',

'Down', 'Right' or 'Left'. At first they will automatically want to run and unco-

ver the right card, so it's easier if you put one chair in front of each team on

which the first child sits, and they are not allowed to stand up, plus other kids

are not allowed to go in front of the chair.

11. The game continues until all the cards have been uncovered. For the last

card, instead of directing you, the kids have to remember what it is.

12. This game is a lot of fun, especially when kids make mistakes and say left

instead of right, up instead of down and your finger ends up outside of the

board. It's a great way of teaching directions to kids.