Humanising Language Teaching
Year 2; Issue 5; September 2000

Maps use few words, so they can help children to express complex ideas that they might not be able to communicate in a second language. The experience of school is common to everyone in a classroom and so can be a meaningful starting point for use of a new language. It seems to make sense to bring maps and school together.#

Mapping a table, classroom, school and town can lead children to think analytically and creatively about their own working environment. I find that very simple maps delight my pupils and, so long as they communicate a sense of a place, I don't worry if they aren't to scale. Primary school children are quick to recognise symbols as representations of reality if the real objects are around them. Through the following activities they learn:

1. that making and reading maps can help them make sense of their environment,
2. that their opinions matter,
3. that they can hold different opinions from their friends and teacher,
4. that having opinions can lead them to improve the quality of their environment.