Graphic Organizers – A visual method to present information that helps students organize and understand
With the first week of February already here, mid-term advising week is fast approaching – March 9-13th. Many of our courses and/or programs are packed with information and taught by dedicated faculty who recognize the workload for students within their program areas.
Well, graphic organizers may help with managing all that information. What are they? Graphic organizers are simply a visual representation of knowledge. Why are they useful? Research has shown that brain activity is enhanced when we use and teach our students to represent information in a visual way. Graphic organizers can be used to display cause and effect, main ideas and details, sequences, decision making, making predictions and any other type of thinking and learning we have our students do.
Anyone remember the Venn diagram, KWL chart or the T chart? These are just a small example of graphic organizers.
The Venn diagram is a visual of overlapping circles (usually two)that can be used to represent sets of information and the relationship of the sets to one another (similarities or differences between two things).
A great way to assess students before, during and after a lesson is the KWL chart (another graphic organizer):
-Divide a page into three columns
-First column is labeled ‘What I Know’
-Second column is labeled ‘What I Want to Know’
-Third column is labeled ‘What I have Learned’
The KWL chart is a great way for classroom assessment; reviewing what your students write in each column can provide you with insight into the strengths and weaknesses of your students’ learning and what you may wish to focus on in upcoming classes.
The ‘T’ chart visually depicts pros and cons, reasons for and against, two sides to an issue; another common way to depict information visually. The ‘T’ chart is commonly used to analyze similarities and differences between two things.
Interested in more? The following webpages provide many more examples of graphic organizer templates (explanations, uses and mobile graphic organizer App tutorials).
Happy Tuesday