Graphic Organizers in the Classroom

Graphic Organizers. What are they, how can they be used and why are they beneficial to students within a classroom setting? These are all questions that can be answered by reading this week's blog posting. First of all, a graphic organizer (or G.O.) is, simply put a way of using images, diagrams and organization to help students learn a concept--a familiar graphic organizer is the Venn Diagram used to compare and contrast ideas. Within the classroom, graphic organizers are a great way to gauge students' knowledge of certain subjects without giving the dreaded pre-tests that many students are accustomed to taking. For example, a science teacher could use graphic organizers to test students' knowledge on classification of animals by creating a G.O. with a main idea bubble of Animal Kingdom, then sub-ideas of each classification and having students list as many animals in each category as possible, possibly even giving them a word bank to choose from.

Another way a G.O. could be used is within an English classroom, where it could be used to discuss a story. This is beneficial because students can see the story being broken down into various different parts such as: characters, setting, morals, etc.

In a younger classroom setting a G.O. could be used to teach basic math by showing addition facts using different colored boxes. Or in a science setting, having students divide animals by how they travel: by wing or by legs.

An example the latter graphic organizer that could be used in a Kindergarten to 1st grade classroom setting can be found below:

This G.O. was created using a software called Inspiration 9.