How do other schools implement Bedrock Mapper?

Bedrock Mapper is designed to help learners develop their understanding of Tier 3 vocabulary across the curriculum and improve their subject knowledge. It equips learners with a vast variety of subject-specific vocabulary, allowing them to access every subject and get the most out of their classes.

Mapper can be used to drive a whole school approach to improving subject-specific literacy. It provides targeted vocabulary instruction, personalised to every learner so they can communicate like experts and thrive in every area of the curriculum. As a Bedrock school, you have access to a wealth of subject-specific content in the Bedrock Created area.

Mapper can be used in the classroom, but also at home. It can be implemented in a bespoke way to meet the needs of your school context and your subject.

It is a particularly helpful tool when supporting learners through transitions; the jump in language difficulty between KS2 and KS3 is vast. Schools can use Mapper for newly arriving Year 7 learners to assess their existing knowledge and teach the necessary, subject-specific vocabulary for success. Schools can also use Mapper to pre-teach key terms, easing the transitions between KS3, 4, and 5.

How can Mapper be used, both in school and at home?

Here are some examples of how schools are currently using Mapper to support their learners across the curriculum, both in the classroom and at home:

• Pre-teaching: Vocabulary can be introduced before starting a new school year or key stage, and specific dates can be set for this pre-teaching to occur. This allows all learners to approach new class content with prior knowledge. (View a case study from one of our Mapper schools here!)
• Formative assessment following teaching: After in-class instruction, Mapper can be used to assess learner understanding.
• Within lessons as a ‘Do Now’ activity: Mapper can serve as a warm-up activity at the beginning of lessons to reinforce the vocabulary that will be required.
• To explicitly teach the vocabulary of a new topic: a range of multimodal activities provide learners with several exposures to the new vocabulary and encourage mastery of it.
• As a literacy lesson with cross-curricula usage: Mapper can be used to support dedicated literacy lessons, incorporating vocabulary from various subjects across the curriculum in one convenient place.
• To test word knowledge over time: Learners’ understanding can be assessed at the beginning and end of a topic to measure their progress.
• To reliably teach subject knowledge and vocabulary: Particularly if a teacher is not a subject specialist in a certain area, Mapper provides a consistent way to teach the knowledge and vocabulary required to engage with the subject.
• To be used as a revision tool: Learners can revisit topics where they may need more support, or demonstrate their knowledge when revising a certain subject.

Due to the flexible nature of sequencing within Mapper, you can use it to meet the needs of your subject and school. It’s easy to set up, and can be implemented to align with the needs of your learners, offering tailored support. To get the most out of Mapper, please see our support page about aligning the content with your in-person teaching.

This helpful PDF gives you some more information about how Mapper can be used in different ways.

To learn more about Mapper implementation within your specific type of school, click the links below:

• Using Mapper in primary schools
• Using Mapper in secondary schools
• Using Mapper in international schools
• Using Mapper to provide additional support