1. Graphic Organizers

2. Graphic Organizers
Purpose: Scaffolds student thinking, activates prior knowledge, serves as an advanced organizer, and provides rich assessment data.
Skills That Can Be Built: Comparison, contrast, classification, synthesis, evaluation.
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3. What is a Graphic Organizer?
A visual that represents the relationships of ideas or information from some source using words or abstract symbols
K W L

4. Graphic organizers help people
focus on important points
organize information in a coherent manner
see relationships of concepts and elements
understand the big picture

5. Graphic organizers can be used for
Information generation
creating or presenting lessons
brainstorming
Information acquisition
reviewing topics
Knowledge assessment
formative and summative evaluation

6. Types of graphic organizers
Concept maps
Venn diagrams
K-W-L charts
Webs (spiders)

7. Applications Use graphic organizers:
Before a lesson or topic to orient the class (activate prior knowledge etc).
During teacher modeling or explanation.
Any time, to check understanding of material.
After a teacher explanation, demonstration etc, to enable students to cognitively process the material.
to break up a long period of sustained activity.
Whenever it is helpful to share ideas.

8. Variations/Accommodations
Allow students to choose among different graphic organizers when more than one will accomplish the same learning goal