Third Grade · Reading · week 11

Diagrams and maps in books

Read labeled diagrams and maps in nonfiction books to gather information a paragraph alone might not give.

A DIAGRAM is a drawing with labels that show the parts of something, like the parts of a plant or the steps in a process. A MAP shows where places are, and it usually has a KEY (or legend) that explains what symbols and colors mean.

Diagrams and maps are not just decorations -- they carry real information. A good reader studies them as carefully as the paragraphs, because sometimes a diagram shows something words alone cannot explain as clearly.

📋 For the teacher
Teach it (10–15 min):
  • Find a diagram in any book and trace each label line with a finger before reading the words around it.
  • Practice with a simple map: find the key first, then hunt for one symbol together.
  • Ask "what does this diagram tell us that the paragraph does not?" to build the habit of using both.
  • If a globe, atlas, or weather map is handy, connect the skill to something your child sees in real life.
Talk about it:
  • What is the first thing you should check when you look at a map?
  • How is a diagram different from a regular picture?
  • What is a map or diagram you remember seeing in a book?

Mastery looks like: They read labels on a diagram accurately and use a map key to interpret symbols and colors on a map.

Common stumbles: Reading a map without checking the key first; skimming past a diagram instead of matching each label to its part.

See it visually

Interactive, spoken-aloud tools that show this idea in motion.

Paragraph BuilderStack a paragraph: topic sentence, details, closing.try →
Homework for this lessonType it, write it with a stylus, or print it for pencil & paper.open →
Records attendance + 15 min of Reading for this learner.
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