INSTRUCTIONAL SOFTWARE

Name: Taylor Waldrip

Software Title: BrainPop
URL: https://jr.brainpop.com/socialstudies/geography/readingmaps/
Function(s) of Instructional Software (check all that apply):
Drill and Practice

Tutorial

Simulation

Instructional Game

e-books/e-references

Features of the Software (check all that apply):

Assessment Monitoring/Reporting (Keeps track of student data and/or generates reports for
the teacher)
Allows teacher to create customized lessons for students
Multi-user or
collaborative functions with others in class
Multi-user or collaborative functions with others
beyond local class
Accessible to students beyond the school day
Accessible via mobile
devices
Multiple languages
Safety, security, and/or privacy features
Strengths of the Software: Fun, engaging cartoons. Easy to understand. Motivating for children.
Content based and covers all content areas. Standards based. Multiple languages available.
Suggestions for Improvement: Increase interactivity, give children more opportunities to be
actively engaged in the tutorial. More teacher control/ option for input. Expand to increase
marketability to older students (more avatar-like characters, less cartoons, etc.).
Standards Addressed: See https://www.georgiastandards.org/Pages/Default.aspx
SSKG2 The student will explain that a map is a drawing of a place and a globe is a
model of the Earth.
a. Differentiate land and water features on simple maps and globes.
b. Explain that maps and globes show a view from above.
c. Explain that maps and globes show features in a smaller size.

Grade Level/Content Area(s): Kindergarten: Social Studies- Geographic Understandings

Blooms Level of Critical Thinking Required (check all that apply). See
http://epltt.coe.uga.edu/index.php?title=Bloom%27s_Taxonomy

Remembering
Understanding
Applying
Analyzing
Evaluating
Creating
Description of how to implement in the class:
When the students enter the classroom, they will see posters of maps and globes around the
room. The display is intended to grasp the students attention and spark excitement/ curiosity
about the topic. We will begin our discussion on maps and globes by watching the BrainPop
tutorial. If any students are ELL, we will watch the video first in English and then in Spanish or
French (depending on the students needs). Students who choose not to view the video a second
time, may begin walking around the room looking at the maps and globes. Each child will be given
a sheet of things to look for, like a scavenger hunt. Eventually all students will observe the posters,
looking for key components of maps and globes: roads, bodies of water, map key, map scale,
compass rose, etc.
Once the students have had had plenty of time to observe the maps and globes, the class will
come together for a whole group discussion about what they all found. The discussion will be
student-led and facilitated by the teacher. Using the whiteboard, the teacher will draw items (land
masses, bodies of water, streets, map key, compass rose etc.) as the students call out the items that
they observed. Once the children have called out all of their findings, the teacher should have
drawn something resembling a map, on the whiteboard. Now that the students have understood
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what makes up a map and have seen how easy drawing a map can be, they are ready to create their
own maps.
Students will be divided up into groups of two. Each pair will be given a large sheet of poster
board and coloring supplies to design their map. The maps that the students create do not have to
be maps of real places, the children can map out their own, imaginary cities, so long as the maps
include the key components discussed in class. As an additional activity, students may be given
Styrofoam craft balls. These can serve as a blank canvas for students to create their own globes.