Neighborhood Maps

A Neighborhood Map is a great way to gather ideas for writing! Turn to a clean page in your writer's notebook and label it "My Neighborhood Map". Draw a detailed picture of your neighborhood. This can be where you live or once lived or a place you have visited often. This should be a place that is important to you. This should be a place where you have plenty of memories. Label/mark important areas in your neighborhood.

Some of those areas may be:

1. A place games were played
2. A dangerous place
3. A secret place
4. A place you learned a lesson
5. A gathering place
6. A place kids ruled
7. A place grown-ups ruled
8. A place of work
9. A quiet place
10. A noisy place
11. A boundary you crossed
12. A boundary you never crossed
13. A place you conquered
14. A place you got hurt
15. A place that longer exists
16. A place you made new friends

Once you've labelled some important areas in your Neighborhood Map, turn to a clean page in your writer's notebook and begin writing about one of the places you labelled. You can turn to your Neighborhood Map whenever you need new writing ideas.

• Are there some important areas you would add to the above list?
• What are some things you noticed about you Neighborhood Map?
• Share you Neighborhood Map with friends. Are there some places they would label differently? Have a discussion.

See examples of Neighborhood Maps: