I've often had to give people directions over the phone. However you feel about cell phones otherwise, it is great to have one when you get lost. Often, there comes a point in the conversation at which you can tell how the person came to be lost.

"It sounds like you're on College. Go east on Joyce Boulevard --"
"Should I turn right or left?"
"Well, that depends on which way you're headed right now. Are you going north or south?"

A silence ensues.

"I'm going toward the mall."
"Okay. What town did you start in?"

Finding your way is much easier with cardinal directions.

A compass rose is a great way to start. The one in the picture is at the Botanical Gardens in Fayetteville. You can make one on your classroom floor!

• Start with a reproducible to color and label.
• Then put down some bulletin board paper on the floor, decide which way is north (use a compass if you don't already know for sure), and follow these excellent directions for constructing a compass rose.

Once you've got your basic shape, you must label the points. If the class understands "clockwise," then here's a nice mnemonic for learning where the directions go: "Never eat slimy worms."

• Ron Brown has put together a song for this mnemonic device, to a tune reminiscent of  Joan Jett's "I Love Rock'n'Roll."
• The BBC seems to think that the phrase is a rhyme, which could give you a couple of minutes of interesting conversation about what "rhyme" means before you delve into their cool online practice.
• Have a student volunteer stand on your compass rose and turn in the appropriate directions while the class chants "North, east, south, west. Never eat slimy worms." Give turns to as many kids as it takes for everyone to get it. Then have the entire class turn and point together. A final cheer is optional.

Get some whole-body action to cement the directions in the students' minds. Here are some fun ideas:

• A lesson plan for using a compass suggests Simon Says with cardinal directions, and a Treasure Trek.
• Get into the habit of using cardinal directions when talking in the classroom. "Line up in the northeast corner," you can say, or "Please take the books to the western book case." You can divide students into groups for activites according to whether their homes are north or south of the school, have them fold their papers along an east-west axis, and line them up facing southwest.

With the cardinal directions firmly in mind, students will find map work much more meaningful. Now they're ready for summer road trips!