Grades 3-5 Lesson Plan - Naming Roads

Map 12 Main Page

Core Map: Rand McNally Junior Auto Trails Map, Florida (Chicago: Rand McNally for Texaco, ca. 1924). Newberry Library call number: RMcN AE 017.2   © 1924 by RMC, R.L.03-S-87. www.randmcnally.com (Printable PDF version of the Core Map)

Overview
In this lesson students investigate the aspects of a historic map of roads and trails in the Southeastern United States. They will explore reasons for giving roads certain names and decide on names for other roads themselves.

Objectives
By the end of this lesson students are expected to

1. recognize reasons for naming streets and roads.
2. apply this knowledge to roads in their own community.
3. explain how this process gives them insight into a community's history.

Materials
Computer image or overhead of core map, copies of core map for students, street map of your community

Time
One and a half hours

Getting Started

1. Brainstorm with students the names of streets in your community.

2. Note the class responses on the board or overhead without comment or organization.

3. Discuss the reasons why those names are used as street names (honoring someone, recognizing a characteristic of the community, identifying with a geographic feature). List these reasons on the board.

4. Ask students to look at the names they have given and tell you which ones go together using the reasons students named in Getting Started step 3. Ask students to come up with a name that describes each of the groups they have identified.

5. Have students create a symbol for each group, then draw the symbol next to the name for each group. Put these symbols and names in a box labeled "Key" in the corner of the board or overhead.

1. Present the core map on the computer, in printed form, or on an overhead transparency.

2. Put students into small groups. Direct students to the section of the map titled "Trail Markings." Assign each group of students four to five of the highway names. Tell them to search for the highways on the map and be prepared to tell the class their guesses about the origins of the names of their assigned highways.

3. Have each group take a turn explaining the origins of one highway to the rest of the class.

4. Lead students back to the work they did in Getting Started. Ask them to compare the reasons they listed for naming streets, roads, and highways in their community to the reasons they described for naming the highways on the core map.

5. Tell students that they have been named to a new government commission. The commission's job is to come up with new names for streets and roads in your community. The naming of these streets and/or roads must comply with the reasons students have developed during this lesson.

6. Have each student identify four streets or roads in your community that they want to rename. Tell them that they are to write three to five sentences about each street or road, identifying the current name, the name they propose, the reasons for proposing the new name, and what the new name says about the community. They should also identify the streets or roads on a map. (If you wish to have students work with streets or roads outside of your community, be aware that it will require additional research on the part of the students into that community's characteristics and values.)

For 3 points the student writes three complete sentences about each street or road, identifying the current name, the name they propose, and their reasons for proposing the new name. They also identify the streets or roads on a map.

For 2 points the student sometimes writes two complete sentences about each street or road, identifying the current name, the name they propose, and their reasons for proposing the new name. They also identify the streets or roads on a map.

For 1 point the student writes one sentence about each street or road, identifying the current name, the name they propose, and their reasons for proposing the new name. They also identify the streets or roads on a map.

Extensions

1. These maps and names could be shared with the class. You may want to choose one new name and have students prepare a letter to the town council or mayor with their proposal.
2. Have students explore names and their origins for other roads in the world, for example, roads during the Roman Empire. Compare the Roman reasons for naming roads to those used in the students' community.