Why can I not tap a square to move the counter?

Because the objective is following a direction. Tapping the square you want would be arriving by pointing, which is the thing this tool exists to avoid. Tapping moves the flag instead, so a teacher can set the next journey.

Are there eight compass points?

Four for now: north, east, south and west. The eight-point compass is a real Year 3 objective and it needs eight buttons, so it is a decision rather than a quiet addition.

No. The steps taken are a readout. Nothing counts up over a lesson and nothing is timed.

Direction Grid

Geography · Year 1–Year 4

Move north, east, south and west to reach the flag.

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About the directions

A grid with a counter on it and a flag to reach. The four buttons are the points of the compass, and the compass rose beside the grid says which way each one goes. Work the route out with the class first, then follow it a step at a time.

The board writes the route out in words as you go: north 2, east 3. Steps the same way run together, because that is how a route is said out loud and written down, and it is what a child has to be able to say. The trail stays on the grid, so the journey the class worked out is still there at the end of it.

A step that would go off the grid is refused and the button greys out. Clamping it would quietly change the journey, and the journey is the thing being taught.

Tap any square to move the flag and set the next challenge. That starts a new journey from wherever the counter is, so a lesson can run on from where it got to rather than going back to the corner every time. The counter never moves by tapping: the whole point is arriving by giving directions rather than by pointing at where you want to be.

The step count is a readout, not a score. Nothing is timed, there is no fewest-steps record, and a class that goes the long way round has still followed directions the whole way.

How to use it on your whiteboard

1Look at the compass rose to see which way north is.
2Tap N, E, S or W to move the counter one square that way.
3The board writes the route out as you go, and the trail stays behind.
4Tap a square to move the flag and set the next journey.
5Tap Again to go back to the start of this one.

Questions

Why can I not tap a square to move the counter?: Because the objective is following a direction. Tapping the square you want would be arriving by pointing, which is the thing this tool exists to avoid. Tapping moves the flag instead, so a teacher can set the next journey.
Are there eight compass points?: Four for now: north, east, south and west. The eight-point compass is a real Year 3 objective and it needs eight buttons, so it is a decision rather than a quiet addition.
Is it scored?: No. The steps taken are a readout. Nothing counts up over a lesson and nothing is timed.