SMART Ideas and Canadian Clipart Collection
Make Community Maps
A PDF version of this is available here from the OSAPAC Learning Object Repository.

1z33 Grade 1 SQC2004 Social Studies CWC: The Local Community Map, Globe, and Graphic Skills * – use their own symbols on a map to identify buildings and places in their local community (e.g., house, barn, school, fire station, police station, community centre, road, shopping area);

Getting Started
First thing that we'll do is draw the base map.

Open a new SMART Ideas document. Using basic symbols, place a period in a symbol to denote the start of a street. Place another period in a symbol to show the end of a street or an intersection. By selecting your first symbol, draw a connecting line to show the connecting road. Once you've drawn the line, choose to have no arrow at either end.

At each end point, select the symbol and choose to have no colour for the outline. You'll be left with a period and the connecting line (for the street). Click on that line and name the street. SMART Ideas will let you select multiple symbols and align their edges to create a tidy look.

If you have a street with a bend, select the curved line connector and drag the blue square to determine how much bend will be in your road.

Repeat until done.

We could use this now. By clicking on the roads and changing colour and arrow heads, it's now possible to highlight the path from home to school.

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Documenting the Neighbourhood
From SMART Ideas itself, there is a huge connection of clipart that can be incorporated into our community map. My community is a rich in diversity. We have a church, mosque, temple, fish market, police officers, ...

The Canadian Clipart Collection features another collection of images that can be brought into SMART Ideas. For this activity, a selection of images reflecting the community have been selected and placed on the SMART Ideas as graphics. Using the mouse, students will pick and place the clipart onto the map. Send it to the printer for a hard copy or export the image to a JPEG file suitable for posting to your classroom website.

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SMART Ideas Tips
If your map is too big to display on the screen all at once, consider using the Zoom control to show the image at a size less than 100%

Or, if you wish to have a big map, use the Pan control to scroll your way throughout the map.

When you go to print, it is possible to print a big map which takes up multiple pages. However, the Fit to Page button will resize your big image automatically so that it fits on whatever size paper is in your printer.

Exporting from Canadian Clipart Collection
The Canadian Clipart Collection features a rich collection of images favourable for use in a Community themed project.

The search routine lets you quickly identify thumbnails that contain descriptors that match your search.

Pick the image that you wish and a bigger image appears in the right window pane.

Click the export button to begin the export process.

Save your image to a location where you know you'll be able to find it. (Your desktop is always a good place.) The Canadian Clipart Collection will also let you do some simple things like flipping and resizing the image that you've selected.

Once you've found all of the images that you want to include, return to SMART Ideas. From the Insert Menu, choose Image from a File, and bring in all of the images that you selected.

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This is a really enjoyable activity. Not only does it address the curriculum expecation, but it introduces students to the Canadian Clipart Collection and yet another application for using SMART Ideas.

Much research has been conducted surrounding the use of graphic organizers and the acquisition of literacy and numeracy skills. SMART Ideas is the perfect tool to assist students organize their thoughts, research, and problem solving.

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