Write Off the Bat: Heart Maps

The following blog post was originally written by Leigh Anne Eck, a member of our Teach Write Academy and middle school teacher in Indiana. This is the final part in our series about starting the year with writing “write off the bat.” You can read the first and second parts here.

One of the easiest ways for students to generate ideas for writing topics in their notebooks is to make lists. Lists of likes and dislikes, important people in their lives, times of happiness or fear, and special places. 

But lists don't have to be written in list form.

Several years ago I came upon heart maps, and this has become one of my students' favorite writing activities as we begin to build our writing community. 

Georgia Heard, the author of Heart Maps--Helping Students Create and Craft Authentic Writing, states that the most important part of teaching writing is the heart. Both the teacher's heart and the students'.

Heart mapping is a visual and concrete way for students to map out their lives and discover personal writing topics that can be used in all genres.

I have a heart template that students trace in their notebooks, but you can also copy templates to be glued to the pages. 

I have students think about what is in their own hearts. What treasures do they keep tucked away? What people, places, and memories are important to them? Then, they begin to write their thoughts in their hearts. The fun part of this writing activity is the coloring or the decorating of the heart.

I like to call heart maps creative lists. This is a great writing activity to generate ideas for any age group. Students can then look back at the maps as they decide on a topic to write as a poem, narrative, memoir, and even nonfiction throughout the year.

Heart mapping is a great activity for adult writers, too. Below are two heart maps I have created. One includes 24 (+2) memories of my son Ethan on his 24th birthday. The other is a map of writing territories, a place where many stories can hide.

For additional information on heart maps from Georgia Heard, heart templates you can download, and a sample chapter from her book, check out this blog post from Heinemann Publishing.

I hope you try heart maps "write" off the bat in your classroom this year (or in your personal writing), and share with us how it went in the comments OR by joining us at an upcoming Time to Write Workshop.