When I was an elementary school teacher, one of my favorite moments was the launch of Writer’s Workshop. Often, the lesson that initiated our yearlong writing curriculum involved the creation of a “Map of My Heart,” which comes from the book Awakening the Heart by Georgia Heard. The beauty of this learning experience is that it can be done with children of all ages, including preschoolers.
In the preschool classroom, we usually start by reading the books In My Heart: A Book of Feelings by Jo Witek and My Map Book by Sara Fanelli. Both of these are lovely picture books … In My Heart celebrates all of the feelings that we have inside deep inside our heart, and My Map Book walks the reader through a variety of vividly illustrated maps including one of the author’s bedroom, neighborhood, tummy, and heart. Next, we discuss how authors tend to write about people, places, and things they love and hold close to their hearts. We ask, “If you drew a map of what’s inside your heart, what would you include?”
Start by helping children make a list of the things in their heart. You can take dictation for pre-writers (ages 2-3) and allow early writers (ages 4-6) to use phonetic spelling. Then offer children a piece of watercolor paper with an outline of a large heart (we use thin sharpie markers so that when children paint over their drawings, the ink won’t bleed). Children can draw pictures inside the heart and then dictate the words they want you to write alongside the pictures; older children might opt to just write words inside their heart. When finished, have children paint their hearts with watercolor paints.
If you’re doing this at home, we suggest making heart maps year after year so you can see how the maps evolve over time. Be sure to frame the hearts and hang them up for future writing inspiration!
To learn more about Georgia Heard’s Heart Maps, and how you can use them in the classroom, be sure to visit her website.
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