Bookmark This! Free Maps!

Looking for basic maps in outline to help students situate their history and to help prepare for standardized tests? Owl & Mouse, a source of free educational software, offers downloadable, printable maps of the United States, individual states, continents, and countries (labeled and unlabeled).

Owl & Mouse also offers 16 interactive, online map puzzles—students drag and drop pieces into position on a map outline. To build a map of the United States, for example, students can match puzzle pieces to state outlines or tackle the more daunting challenge of finding where states go within an unmarked map of the United States—or use a third interactive game to learn state capitals. (Beware! Rhode Island is tricky because the state is smaller than the drag-and-drop icon.)

Printing options for individual maps include size choices. You'll notice that one-page maps are excellent for individual student work, but if you want larger maps, it's necessary to print multiple pages. A 6-foot-wide map is possible, but it prints on 64 individual pages that must then be assembled.

Owl & Mouse offers suggestions for using their maps and instructions for accessing the materials they offer on their site. In addition to maps, their resources include Reading Software, Medieval History, and Crafts.