How to Use Graphic Organizers

How to Use Graphic Organizers as a Reading/Writing Strategy

 

Students can outline writing assignments with a Word Web.

Graphic organizers are simple charts that help students communicate effectively and classify ideas. These charts work well in the reading and writing classroom, because they allow students to outline basic ideas and brainstorm. Students no longer have to take basic notes or write a traditional outline when reading new material or writing. Graphic organizers can be modified to work well with all grade levels.

Instructions

1. • 1
     Acquaint students with new information using a KWL chart. KWL charts provide a way for students to integrate previous knowledge with new information. To use a KWL chart, provide a KWL worksheet for students or have them make their own. To make a KWL chart, make three columns on a blank sheet of paper. On the left column, write, "What I Know." In the middle column, write, "What I Want to Know" and in the right column, write, "What I Learned." Before students read a new piece of material or listen to a lecture, ask them to fill out the left column. In this column, students should write what they already know about a topic. Then ask them to fill out what they want to know about the topic. After the new information is presented, ask them to write down what they learned about the new topic in the right-hand column.
     
   • 2
     Brainstorm ideas for writing about a new topic using a cluster/word web. Cluster/word webs allow students to jot down notes about what they want the main points of a writing assignment to be. Use a premade cluster/word web worksheet---several templates exist---or ask students to make their own. In the center of a sheet of paper, students should draw a square and write the word, "Topic." Ask students to write their topic in the square. Surround the square with several circle offshoots. Each circle should be a main point that deals with the writer's topic. For instance, if a student were writing a story about the benefits of exercise, her circles might contain the phrases, "fun with friends," "helps build muscles" and "burns calories." Depending on the topic, students could have different numbers of offshoots, as some topics or writing assignments demand more details. Also, older students should be required to provide more information.
     
     
   • 3
     Dissect and revise pieces of writing using a graphic organizer such as the sequence chart. A sequence chart asks students to focus on the main ideas of a piece but in chronological order. Sequence charts work well for peer writing groups. Divide students into groups of four and have them analyze each other's work. In a sequence chart, students should first list what the topic is. Under the topic, they will then chronologically write what happens next in a story. Then, at the end, they write what comes last. Younger students can use a sequence chart to help them understand the order of events in a fiction piece, too, or even cause and effect. Older students can use a sequence chart to analyze a longer piece of nonfiction that has an obvious beginning, middle and end.