Maps, Keys and Traps

Overview

In this second lesson of Catching Mustelids: Reading Detectives, students revisit pages 10–11 and use text features to locate and interpret information. They compare the non-fiction text with a story, read a map key, interpret a trap diagram, and explain the sequence of events when a stoat enters the trap.

Learning intentions

• WALT use maps, keys and diagrams to locate information.
• WALT identify and explain information in a non-fiction text.
• WALT use evidence from words, symbols and pictures to explain how a trap works.
• WALT notice how non-fiction texts differ from stories.

Success criteria

• I can use a map key to explain what symbols mean.
• I can locate the egg bait on the map or diagram.
• I can explain what happens when a stoat enters the trap.
• I can use words and pictures from the text as evidence.

Curriculum links

• Planning and drafting: building knowledge through reading, relevant learning experiences and discussion.
• Planning and drafting: developing enough topic knowledge to plan and write.
• Writing across the first three years: using notes to record key ideas during planning.
• English: reading and interpreting information presented through words, maps, symbols and diagrams.

Lesson structure (35 minutes)

1. 0–5 min · Reconnect and notice. Display the title and a striking image of a map beside a trap diagram using the opening comparison slide. Ask, “How is this page different from a story page?” Students briefly revisit pages 10–11, then turn and talk about one feature they notice, such as a map, key, label or factual sentence.

2. 5–10 min · Teach text features. Use the text-features teaching slides to model locating the map, reading its key and checking a symbol against the words around it. Think aloud: “I do not guess what this symbol means; I check the key.” Students identify one map symbol and explain its meaning to a partner.

3. 10–18 min · Map detectives. Display the relevant page and distribute the map and trap investigation sheet. Students work in pairs to find the map, match symbols with meanings from the key, and locate the egg bait. Prompt them to point to the evidence before answering. Pause for a whole-group check: “Which part of the key helped you decide?”

4. 18–26 min · Interpret the trap diagram. Use the trap sequence slides to enlarge the diagram and model following arrows, labels and numbered steps. Ask: “What is the stoat looking for?” and “What changes when it enters?” Students annotate or complete the diagram on their worksheet, recording the sequence in simple notes: the stoat enters, reaches the bait, triggers the mechanism, and becomes contained. Clarify any vocabulary using the diagram rather than expecting students to memorise it.

5. 26–31 min · Compare text types. Revisit the story/non-fiction comparison prompt in the comparison discussion slide. Students discuss with a partner and then share responses. Guide them towards differences such as facts rather than an invented plot, headings or labels, maps and diagrams, and information organised for a reader to learn. Students add one comparison note to their worksheet.

6. 31–35 min · Whisper read and check. Students whisper read the relevant pages, following the text and diagrams carefully. Ask quick mini-whiteboard questions from the plenary question slides: “What does this symbol mean?”, “Where is the egg bait?”, “What happens first?”, and “How do you know?” Students show boards together, then correct or improve one answer using evidence from the text.

Resources

• Pages 10–11 of Catching Mustelids: Reading Detectives
• the maps, keys and traps slide deck
• the map and trap investigation sheet
• Six mini-whiteboards, pens and erasers
• Enlarged or projected copies of the map and trap diagram
• Pencils and highlighters
• Reading area or paired seating

Assessment

• Listen for students using the map key accurately and pointing to evidence when locating the egg bait.
• Check worksheet responses, especially whether the trap sequence is explained in the correct order.
• Use mini-whiteboard responses to identify students who can retrieve information independently and those who need further modelling with diagrams or symbols.

Differentiation

• Support students by enlarging the diagram, rereading short sections aloud, and using sentence starters: “The symbol means…”, “The egg bait is…”, and “When the stoat…, then…”.
• Pair students strategically, giving the confident reader the role of locating evidence and the developing reader the role of explaining it; swap roles during the activity.
• For students who need additional support, highlight the map key and provide a small number of choices when asking about symbols or sequence.
• Challenge ready students to explain why a diagram may be more useful than a paragraph for showing how the trap works, using two pieces of evidence.
• Support EAL learners with gesture, labelled visuals, partner rehearsal and repeated use of key words such as map, key, symbol, bait, enter and trigger.