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Reading PK-3

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Reading PK-3 > Strategies > Graphic Organizer

Graphic Organizer

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Overview

Visualizing how ideas fit together helps students construct meaning and strengthen recall. Graphic organizers outsource the memory demands of a task by mimicking the brain's mental schema, supporting students' cognitive development and, in turn, their reading and vocabulary skills.

Use It in the Classroom

Watch how a teacher uses word maps to help her students better understand and remember new words. By supporting cognitive skills, such as Working Memory and Attention, word maps develop Vocabulary and Sight Recognition.

  • For learners with low Working Memory, graphic organizers hold onto the information for them. Readers can also recall this information more easily because they have repeatedly worked with it, recording it in the graphic organizer and reviewing it. This helps develop Verbal Reasoning skills, as readers can more easily connect information across a reading and with their own Background Knowledge.

    • Design It into Your Product

    Videos are chosen as examples of strategies in action. These choices are not endorsements of the products or evidence of use of research to develop the feature.

    Learn how Popplet allows learners to create their own graphic organizers or collaborate to create a graphic organizer as a group. In addition to traditional text, learners have other choice options such as adding or changing drawings, photos, videos, colors, and fonts, which support engagement and increased Motivation.

  • Graphic organizers that can be manipulated—layout, shapes, colors, fonts—provide even more support for developing readers. These manipulatives activate more cognitive skills, from Attention to Visual Processing. The ability to personalize also drives Motivation and positive Emotions, both critical to wanting to learn.
    • View References

    Resources

    Below are additional examples, research, and professional development. These resources are possible representations of this strategy, not endorsements.
    Examples

    Creately

    Free online graphic organizer maker

    Examples

    Reading Comprehension

    Scholastic's free lesson plans and downloadable graphic organizers

    Examples

    Words Maps

    Reading Rockets' free lesson plans and word map templates

    Research

    Cognition & Memory

    Topic that includes cognitive science theories about how the brain processes information on Digital Promise's Research Map

    Research

    Working Memory

    Subtopic that describes the function of the brain's working memory on Digital Promise's Research Map

    Factors Supported by this Strategy

    Language and Literacy
    Background Knowledge
    Morphological Awareness
    Narrative Skills
    Verbal Reasoning
    Vocabulary
    Cognition
    Attention
    Inhibition
    Long-term Memory
    Short-term Memory
    Speed of Processing
    Working Memory
    Social and Emotional Learning
    Emotion
    Motivation
    Student Background
    Adverse Experiences
    Hearing
    Physical Fitness
    Primary Language
    Safety
    Sleep
    Socioeconomic Status

    More Visual Learning Tools Strategies

    Advance Graphic Organizer

    Advance graphic organizers link prior knowledge to upcoming learning to help students anticipate and understand the structure of new information.

    Pictures & Visuals

    Visuals help students recognize relationships within words and sentences to develop reading skills.

    Videos

    Providing visuals to introduce, support, or review instruction activates more cognitive processes to support learning.

    Videos: SEL Topics

    Videos developed with discussion guides can teach students about SEL skills.

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