Students at Masons Cove Elementary School kicked off their shoes on Thursday, Jan. 29 while studying the Giant Map of Asia that is visiting all Roanoke County Elementary Schools now through February 4. The topographic map was provided by EdNet with National Geographic.

This will be the second year that Roanoke County has participated in this program, according to Amy Cummings, Coordinator of Social Studies with Roanoke County Public Schools. However, this is the first time it has been at Oak Grove Elementary School

“Everybody has been really positive about it,” she said. “What I thought was great about it was that it’s the same price whether we had it for a week or two months. It’s an incredible investment in our kids.”

Cummings said that when they participated last year they received the Giant Map of Africa, and this year decided to get the Giant Map of Asia. Next year, they hope to request the Giant Map of North America. The maps are requested and moved from each school after a day or two. The program costs around $275.

“It is definitely not only hands on, it’s feet on, elbow on, knees on- It’s completely interactive,” Cummings said.

Each grade level uses the map for a different purpose depending on their age and what they are studying. Many classrooms did projects leading up to the arrival of the giant map of Asia and for other classrooms the map will spear off a subject they are about to study.

The map comes with a trunk full of activities, including ropes, a giant die, lesson plans, etc.

“One day I went to pick up the map from another school and all of the kids were in the hallway and one yelled, ‘The map is fun!’,” Cummings remembered.

Roanoke County found out about the program last year from the previous coordinator and decided to continue with it.

The map teaches how to find rivers, oceans, countries, things about the equator, etc.

“It just brings a while new perspective to the students,” Chuck Lionberger, Public Relations Specialist for Roanoke County Public Schools said. ”

–Emily Flora, SwoCo community journalist

Photo 1: Fifth grade teacher Lauren Harlow helps Brooke Shepherd find a spot in  Russia during their latitude and longtitude game. Photo by Miranda Adkins, So Salem

Photo 2: Fifth-grader Remington Stanley finds a location on the map for the blue team – placing it just north of Saudi Arabia. It was Stanley’s birthday that day! Photo by Miranda Adkins, So Salem