Using Graphic Organizers

Graphic organizers are excellent tools for helping students connect ideas and see relationships between different pieces of information. The goal is for students to expand their knowledge by understanding the material in their own way. Graphic organizers can be used for a variety of purposes, such as eliciting prior knowledge, demonstrating a sequence of events, and comparing and contrasting.

Check out the web sites below to see some different uses of graphic organizers.

Sites That Matter

Smart Ideas
SMART Ideas helps students build interactive concept maps using patterns and images to demonstrate connections between ideas. Students can view maps as a presentation, diagram or outline, as well as create a webpage to share their maps with classmates.
www2.smarttech.com/st/en-US/Products/SMART%2BIdeas/

Education Oasis: Graphic Organizers
This site contains 58 graphic organizers within six categories. All of them can be downloaded (in PDF). Some of the graphic organizers may be filled out online and then printed.
www.educationoasis.com/curriculum/
graphic_organizers.htm

Inspiration
Inspiration is designed to assist middle and high school students as they gather information and write research projects. Inspiration's tools help students organize their ideas, communicate their thinking to peers and teachers, and identify possible relationships between concepts by creating outlines and graphic organizers in preparation for writing.
www.inspiration.com/

Kidspiration
K-5 learners can use Kidspiration to create graphic organizers and outlines for research projects using pictures, text, and spoken words. Using the software, students can organize their thoughts and ideas, communicate their thinking to peers and teachers, and identify possible relationships between concepts.
www.inspiration.com/productinfo/
kidspiration/index.cfm

Teach-ology.com: Graphic Organizer Makers
This section of the web site contains tools that allow teachers to generate instant graphic organizers by filling out a simple online form. The organizers can then be saved and printed. 10 different categories to choose from.
www.teach-nology.com/web_tools/graphic_org/

Using Electronic Graphic Organizers to Build Reading Skills
This article provides explanations of the purpose and uses of graphic organizers, examples of various types of organizers, and resources for using this strategy in the classroom.
www.suite101.com/article.cfm/1411/29130

Write Design Online Graphic Organizers
This site provides an overview of the main types of graphic organizers, including explanations as to why each organizer would be used and terrific examples.
www.writedesignonline.com/organizers/

Graphic Organizer Makers
This web site allows teachers and students to create graphic organizers electronically by completing an online form. Once an organizer has been created, it can be saved or a copy can be printed.
www.teach-nology.com/web_tools/graphic_org/

Scholastic Graphic Organizers for Reading Comprehsion
One of the best sites for ready-made graphic organizers, this leading educational publisher provides downloadable PDFs of a variety of graphic organizers to help students construct meaning of text.
content.scholastic.com/browse/article.jsp?id=2983

Region 15 Graphic Organizers
This web site offers a variety of downloadable resources for graphic organizers in both Spanish and English. Some these organizers are geared to specific content area subjects, such as science or social studies.
www.region15.org/curriculum/graphicorg.html

Graphic Organizers
Houghton Mifflin provides PDF templates of graphic organizers in both Spanish and English.
www.eduplace.com/graphicorganizer/index.html

Score
This section of the California sponsored web site contains printable graphic organizers along with descriptions and key framing questions.
www.sdcoe.k12.ca.us/score/actbank/torganiz.htm

Different Perspectives: A Graphic Organizer
This graphic organizer promotes learning by helping students understand various perspectives on an issue. It can be used for both fiction and nonfiction pieces.
www.canteach.ca/elementary/inform5.html

Index of Graphic Organizers
This is a graphic organizer of graphic organizers that contains descriptions and uses of various types of graphic organizers.
www.graphic.org/goindex.html