Aug 25 2008
Graphic Organizers
What is a graphic organizer??
Well, it is an instructional tool used to help students illustration information about a given topic. There are quite a few reasons why you might want to use graphic organizers with your students:
- Helps students organize their thoughts
- Encourages students to think about information in different ways
- Allows students to see connections between pieces of information
- Provides an alternative method for students to demonstrate understanding
- Helps students see the big picture
- Gives students a concrete/visual tool
The most common one used in education for many years is the KWL chart that displays what student KNOW, WANT to learn, and HOW they can learn more. The North Central Regional Education Laboratory explains what they are and gives some example of how they can be used in the classroom.
Graphics organizers have become so much more! Here are a few websites that have some examples of graphics organizers you and your students can download and complete:
- Houghton Mifflin’s Graphic Organizers
- TeacherVision Graphic Organizers
- edHelper Graphic Organizers
- Education Oasis Graphic Organizers
- teAchnology – Graphic Organizer Makers – create your own online
- Thinkature: Real-time Collaboration for the Web – Great online collaboration tool!!
Your textbook may have come with some graphic organizers as well. These days, many of them come on a CDROM so that you can download and customize them for you classroom. Microsoft Office also comes with some great tools for creating graphic organizers.
