Picture mapping is an activity that I used often in my classroom of fourth through sixth graders. Personally, I am a visual learner, and note taking for me was often boring, ineffective, and in my mind, I just couldn’t make connections to what I was learning. Picture mapping offers an alternative learning experience for students who may feel the same.

I explain picture mapping as being like a snapshot of informational text. It is meaning visually represented in symbols and illustrations that truly capture the main idea and key details of text content. Another way of thinking of picture mapping, is it is similar to Egyptian hieroglyphs. As they used pictures and symbols to tell a story in sequence, so will the illustrations of your students.

There are so many benefits to incorporating picture mapping in your content area curriculum. Perhaps the most important that I have found throughout my teaching experience, is that it is especially effective for students with dysgraphia and learning disabilities, those students who are bored with regular note taking, and overall just an amazingly effective reading strategy for students who love to draw and visually represent their learning.

We all learn in different ways, and as students move up in their grade level, often times note-taking is boring and ineffective, as it doesn’t connect in student’s minds or seem to be meaningful to them. With picture mapping, students have to make connections, identify an accurate and appropriate symbol/illustration to represent text context, and use a multitude of reading strategies to participate in this creative activity.

Depending on the grade level, picture mapping extensions can be applied to enhance this experience. Most often these picture maps can be presented in front of the classroom to share group interpretations of the text. This opens the door for meaningful dialogue about the content you are learning in class. This activity can also be completed individually or as a small group. Small group picture mapping is a fun cooperative learning experience, as it is best completed on large pieces of butcher paper. These can be hung around the classroom or hallways for reference and test review, overall adorning your classroom walls with a colorful and creative display.

Picture mapping is an excellent strategy to use within your science and social studies curriculum, through personal journals and homework extensions. Below scroll through the images to learn more about the benefits of picture mapping and how to incorporate it within your classroom. Get reading…learning… drawing…get creative!