The Wonderful Wizard of Oz

Use this activity to engage all types of learners, while requiring that they refer to and incorporate details from the text over the course of the activity.

“Map of the Land of Oz”

In this activity, students use details from the text to construct a map of the Land of Oz.

• You may work individually or with a group on this activity.
• On a large piece of paper, draw a map of the Land of Oz. Use clues from the text about the appearance of each place within Oz—such as the East, West, South, Emerald City, and forest—to create an accurate depiction. Locate each place in a logical position based on the journey made by the characters.
• You may choose to embed brief textual quotes in the map—for example, “As they advanced the ground became rougher and hillier, for there were no farms nor houses in this country of the West, and the ground was untilled” (Chapter 12). Select quotes that will help readers of your map imagine what each place looks like or identify an important event that took place there.

Teaching Suggestion: Consider encouraging students to have their books open as they design and create their maps. Features of landscapes should be rendered using textual evidence.

Differentiation Suggestion: Consider pairing students who have artistic strengths with others who have strengths in textual analysis (if they are including textual quotes). You might also choose to make the project more manageable by allowing students to select one setting within Oz to depict in either a map or an illustration, instead of mapping the entire land.