Graphic Organizers

What Is a Graphic Organizer?

    A graphic organizer is a tool that you can use to help you organize information and help you communicate it more clearly in writing.  It can take many different forms.  Some of the most commonly used forms in the classroom are story webs, concept webs, and KWL (Know, Want to Know, Learned) charts.  They are fantastic tools for students who have trouble expressing their ideas on paper in a clear fashion, as the visual aid that the graphic organizer provides allows the student to literally see the connection to whatever topic it is that they are addressing.  These can prove especially helpful to those who are not native English speakers (English Language Learners).  I have included examples of graphic organizers on this website to help students with any writing tasks or activities.

    The website below shows a few different examples of classroom situations in which you would use a graphic organizer, as well as explains how it can be useful to the student.

www.ncrel.org/sdrs/areas/issues/students/learning/lr1grorg.htm

    The article at this website underlines how educators and researchers in education believe that one strategy teachers can use to help students achieve better comprehension is through the use of graphic or semantic organizers.  The third strategy provides links to downloads of many different types of graphic organizers.

www.readingrockets.org/article/3479/