Teaching Coordinate Grids? Try These Great Resources!

A fabulous fifth grade teacher I work with started using these coordinate grid mystery pictures with her class from Super Teacher Worksheets.  She said that her kids who struggled with everything else in math, loved these and were so engaged in finding the coordinates.  There are many different mystery pictures that you have to pay for on their site, but I want to call your attention to a Santa Clause mystery picture that is absolutely free 🙂 especially since this is the week before Christmas!  We all know how kids are the week before Christmas break–ahem–let’s just say they need something super engaging!

I also just finished revising a coordinate grid activity that I made a while back.  Students must locate buried treasure on a coordinate grid using geometry and graphing terms.  Our fifth graders are enjoying this activity right now, too!  This activity packet is available on TeachersPayTeachers.

Social studies can be discussed with this activity since the grid has a map behind it.  I like to discuss coordinate graphing on the same days I am teaching map skills in social studies because the two are so similar.  This activity doesn’t explicitly teach social studies, but there is definitely room for some discussion about the maps and what part (or state) the treasure is probably in.