Graphic Organizers
What is a graphic organizer?
A graphic organizer is a way to show concepts and relationship between concepts from a text using text, illustrations, and/or diagrams. There are a vast amount of graphic organizers and each one has its own unique purpose. Graphic organizers can be called maps, webs, graphs, charts, etc. Some of the main graphic organizers include Venn Diagrams, story maps, and KWL charts. (Adler, C., 2015).
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In the video above, you can learn what graphic organizers are and ways it helps all types of students in the classroom. There are many different types of graphic organizers, which you will see all sorts of different ones in this video.
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how do graphic organizers support ell students?
Graphic organizers help ELL students in many different ways. A graphic organizer helps students break down a piece of text into the essential components. They benefit ELL students because of the way they represent the components. According to Wright (2010), "Graphic organizers represent the main ideas and other content visually with just a few words." (p. 208). It is a great strategy to use with ELL students because they will be able to learn how to use it independently. Lastly, they benefit ELL students because according to Wright (2010), they "provide an important oral language scaffold for ELL students to talk about and retell stories or summarize expository texts." (p 208).
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In the video above there is an ESL student who explains her understanding of the novel through her graphic organizer. You can tell that the student's understanding is growing through using this graphic organizer on the IPad. Students have the option to add in visuals if that helps them, which for one of the students in the video it helps.
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This video talks about professional development among teachers and the "non-negotiables" that this school implements in their classroom, one being graphic organizers.
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benefits of implementing graphic organizers- They help students focus on text structure as they read
- They provide students with a way to show relationships in a text - They help students write summaries of the text in an organized way - They help struggling readers build comprehension and vocabulary skills - They help with vocabulary instruction as well - They can be used in all content areas |
Examples of Using graphic organizers in content areas
Science
In a science class you can use graphic organizers for new vocabulary, textbook content, and even hands-on science experiments. In this cause the lab is about which fruit has the most electricity. The graphic organizer helps students organize their process, the results, and the meaning behind the results. Something I would add to this graphic organizer is their thoughts and hypothesis at the beginning. This then gets the students thinking critically. With ELL students, I would make sure to have visuals with the graphic organizer. It may even be beneficial to have a graphic organizer modified for ELL students with prompts and visuals.
Reading
In reading classes you can use graphic organizers for many different reasons. In this lesson example, the teacher is using a graphic organizer to retell a story and help students gain comprehension of the story. The students took a portion of the chapter book in this lesson and used a four square graphic organizer to retell the story in their own words and create illustrations.
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Mathematics
In Mathematics, graphic organizers are very beneficial in organizing concepts. The example picture above shows a graphic organizer for categorizing quadrilaterals. It is very important you allow room for students to implement visuals as well in the graphic organizer like this one above. It will help the students distinguish the differences between each shape.
Writing
Here is an example of how a teacher can incorporate graphic organizers into a broader assignment. The travel journal in this video shows graphic organizers inside and this is a great way to use them! Not only are they using graphic organizers in the travel journals, but they are also building comprehension. This is where students may be able to incorporate their native language when needed. A graphic organizer could be used to help the adjust to transitioning into English language.
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References
Adler, C. (2015). Seven Strategies to Teach Students Text Comprehension. Retrieved October 2, 2015, from http://www.readingrockets.org/article/seven-strategies-teach-students-text-comprehension
CMSESL's Channel. (2012, March 19). Kristen Baker's ESL Class - First Month with iPads! Retrieved October 2, 2015, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=odgDDGmYv7I
Edutopia. (2011, December 6). How to Engage Underperforming Students. Retrieved June 12, 2015, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=96&v=y0H5XsZ1gzA
Edutopia. (2014, August 18). Travel Journals: Student-Created Textbooks. Retrieved June 12, 2015, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DkjHCBo0TIU
Harton, J. (2014, January 17). How To Use Graphic Organizers. Retrieved October 2, 2015.
OnDemandInstruction. (2013, January 2). What is a Graphic Organizer. Retrieved October 2, 2015, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IutSbdYw0Kk
The Balanced Literacy Diet. (2011, November 29). Four Square Retelling: A Graphic Organizer for Retelling Narratives. Retrieved October 2, 2015, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q9dq5rfPRSc
Wright, W. E. (2010). Foundations for teaching English language learners: Research, theory, policy, and practice. Philadelphia: Caslon Pub.
CMSESL's Channel. (2012, March 19). Kristen Baker's ESL Class - First Month with iPads! Retrieved October 2, 2015, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=odgDDGmYv7I
Edutopia. (2011, December 6). How to Engage Underperforming Students. Retrieved June 12, 2015, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=96&v=y0H5XsZ1gzA
Edutopia. (2014, August 18). Travel Journals: Student-Created Textbooks. Retrieved June 12, 2015, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DkjHCBo0TIU
Harton, J. (2014, January 17). How To Use Graphic Organizers. Retrieved October 2, 2015.
OnDemandInstruction. (2013, January 2). What is a Graphic Organizer. Retrieved October 2, 2015, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IutSbdYw0Kk
The Balanced Literacy Diet. (2011, November 29). Four Square Retelling: A Graphic Organizer for Retelling Narratives. Retrieved October 2, 2015, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q9dq5rfPRSc
Wright, W. E. (2010). Foundations for teaching English language learners: Research, theory, policy, and practice. Philadelphia: Caslon Pub.