Maps From Stories

• Read a story or poem to the class (e.g. ‘The Owl and the Pussycat’ or one of the Katie Morag Stories).
• Discuss a place visited in the story or a journey made by a central character.
• Brainstorm the features of the location or the main landmarks of the journey.
• Discuss ways of representing these features on a map.
• As a class, in groups or individually, produce maps which represent the chosen area or journey. Make it clear that it is quite acceptable for each map to be different.

It is interesting to share work and to discuss the various ways in which children have seen the described places and how they have represented them. It is valuable in allowing children to realise that each person can respond to stories or poems individually.