Two third grade classes, about 15 miles apart, spent about an hour trying to decipher the other’s location during a mystery mapping activity. Students in Connie-Jo O’Neill’s class at Lockhart Elementary School connected with their peers at in Natina DiOrio’s class Denton Avenue Elementary School in the Herricks School District.
The classes were introduced to each other during a Google Meet videoconference. Taking turns, each class asked yes or no questions to figure out the location of the other. They asked if their location was north, south, east or west of certain states and landmarks. Once a class had it narrowed down, they could make more detailed guesses. Ms. O’Neill’s students first guessed the other class was in Brooklyn, while the Herricks students guessed New Jersey as the location of their Massapequa counterparts.
Eventually it was revealed where both classes were. Students also were excited to learn that Ms. O’Neill and Ms. DiOrio are sisters and that’s what sparked the connection.
Ms. O’Neill’s students were assigned different tasks for the project such as greeter, speaker, mapping experts, researchers and question writers. They prepared for about two weeks before their virtual interaction on March 18.
Geography is a significant unit within the third grade social studies curriculum. Ms. O’Neill explained that students gain an understanding of where they live both locally and globally. They also learn about the cardinal directions, explore the components of maps and identify the continents, oceans and states.