TEACHING STRATEGIES

The Best Graphic Organizers to Engage Students and Enhance Learning

13 April 2024/ By Zineb DJOUB

Graphic organizers are powerful tools that can help students visually organize information, improve comprehension, and enhance critical thinking skills. These visual frameworks also scaffold learning and facilitate formative assessment by indicating students’ levels of understanding. So, graphic organizers can support students in monitoring their learning progress, contributing to building their confidence and ownership over their learning.

However, selecting the right graphic organizers for your students and incorporating them effectively into your instruction are essential to harness their potential.

In this blog post, you’ll learn about the meaning of graphic organizers, types and uses of graphic organizers for teachers, and the necessary guidelines to integrate them into your daily instruction.

What are graphic organizers?

Graphic organizers are visual learning and teaching tools used to organize information and ideas in a way that is easy to understand and internalize. Graphic organisers integrate text and visuals to demonstrate relationships and connections among concepts, terms, and facts.

Types of graphic organizers

Graphic organizers can be classified into various types based on how they organize information, such as hierarchical, conceptual, sequential, or cyclical arrangements.

We should also understand that some graphic organizers serve different aspects of learning than others such as organizing information, comparing and contrasting, and summarizing ideas and some are also more relevant to different subjects and topics (e.g. story maps for literature/reading stories).

Hence, we can use all graphic organizers at different stages of the lesson: warm-up, lesson presentation, independent learning, revision, test-prep, etc.

Here are the types of graphic organizers we all need to consider to engage our students and enhance their learning experiences.

# KWL Chart

This 3-column chart captures the before (what the student already knows), during (what he wants to learn) and after (what he learned).

Any subject teacher can use this graphic organizer to activate students’ prior knowledge at the beginning of a new unit or lesson, encourage them to set goals for their learning, explore the topic, and reflect on what they have learned.

To learn more about how to use the KWL Chart, you can read this post: K-W-L Chart

# Concept map

A concept map or conceptual diagram shows a central idea with its corresponding characteristics. So, it is used to show any type of relationship between concepts.

How to use it?

-Brainstorming at the beginning of a lesson/debate and discussion sessions: To encourage students to think and generate more ideas in relation to the lesson topic.

-Visualizing and understanding concepts in different subjects (Mathematics, Science, Social studies, Technology, Physical Education, etc.).

-In an English or literature class: Students create concept maps to analyze themes, characters, symbolism, and literary devices in novels, poems, or plays.

-Science experiments: Students map out hypotheses, variables, procedures, observations, and conclusions, creating visual representations of the scientific method and experimental process.

-In history or social studies lessons: Students map out timelines, key figures, political movements, and cultural shifts, connecting related events and analyzing historical significance.

-Project planning: To plan and outline their projects, students map out, for instance, research questions, objectives, resources, key findings, and presentation formats.

-Problem-solving strategies: Students map out step-by-step processes for solving problems.

-Vocabulary building: Students come up with synonyms.

# Flow Diagram or Sequence Chart

This is one of the most useful graphic organizers for our students. It represents the order of steps in a process, a timeline of events, etc.

How to use it?

Students can use this graphic organizer for a variety of purposes such as:

• Outlining the key events in a story or chapter,
• planning for ideas in writing,
• outlining the procedures in the scientific process,
• creating a timeline for reviewing the order of events in a period,
• taking down notes during a lesson.

 

Flow diagrams can also serve as visual reminders. Students can generate it on cards or large chart paper to post in the classroom to illustrate a given operation/process (e.g. in math or science) and then check off each step as they complete problems.

Besides, you can use this graphic organizer to establish classroom routines and maintain order. For instance, to show students the order of activities for the day, arrival procedures, group work procedures, and lunchtime routines.

Students can work in groups where each member fills in one step in a given sequence, and then passes his paper to another person to write the next step. When all the steps are complete, the whole group checks their charts.

# Venn diagram

Venn diagrams are ideal for comparing and contrasting two or more sets of data or concepts. Circles that overlap have a commonality while those that don’t have uncommon traits.

So, this graphic organizer helps represent visually the similarities and differences between two concepts.

How to use it?

You can use the Venn diagram to teach students how to compare and contrast concepts, identify similarities and differences, and analyze relationships between sets of data or ideas.

So, they can be applied across various subjects and topics. For instance, to compare and contrast:

• Characters from different novels or plays.
• Literary genres, such as fiction and nonfiction, poetry and prose, etc.
• Scientific theories, hypotheses, experiments, and outcomes.
• Cultural practices, beliefs, and customs.

 

Students can work in pairs to complete the diagram. Each person is responsible for supplying the unique features of one of the main topics being compared.

They can also incorporate illustrations to represent ideas or concepts such as drawings, icons, and symbols, and add images when using digital tools to create this diagram. This can be incredibly beneficial for younger students, or those with writing difficulties and diverse needs and preferences.

# Cause and effect graphic organizer

Cause and effect diagrams, also known as fishbone diagrams, show the causes (why something has happened) and effects of an event (the result of what has happened). So, they can help students analyze causal relationships, identify root causes of problems, and understand the consequences of actions.

How to use it?

Students can use this graphic organizer to analyze a topic or an issue by identifying causes and their corresponding effects. This could be characters and events in reading, discussing major events in social studies and history, studying the impact of a science experiment, or exploring real-world issues.

After drawing a fishbone-shaped, students label the main horizontal line as the “Effect” or “Problem,” and draw diagonal lines (the “bones”) branching off from the main line. Then, they label each branch with a category of potential causes related to the effect or problem.

Students can work in pairs to match a cause with its effect using this type of diagram and then discuss in small groups the relationships between causes and effects.

# Problem and solution graphic organizer

This graphic organizer can be used to improve the problem-solving skills of the students. It helps students identify and evaluate solutions to problems. It includes the problem at the beginning, then the causes of this problem, suggested solutions along with their pros and cons, and a final solution to the problem.

How to use it?

This graphic organizer provides a structured framework for analyzing problems, exploring solutions, and taking proactive steps toward resolution.

So, students can use it to solve math problems, and STEM challenges, explore historical or contemporary issues in social studies, or civics classes, analyze characters’ conflicts in literature, and explore real-world problems.

To help students create problem and solution graphic organizers, prompt them with questions.

To define the problem, encourage them to answer questions like: What’s the problem? Why is it a problem? Who does it affect? To brainstorm solutions, use questions like: How can we solve this problem? What are some possible solutions? What resources do we need to implement this solution? Are there any expected negative consequences?

Once students have generated a list of potential solutions, have them select the most appropriate solution or combination of solutions based on their feasibility, effectiveness, and potential outcomes. Then, discuss why they chose that solution and how it should be implemented.

Key guidelines for effective use of graphic organizers

Graphic organizers are great learning tools, but if they contain too much information or if students are not properly instructed in their use, they can easily become confused and lose interest in creating them.

Therefore, here are some essential guidelines:

-Keep graphic organizers simple: Focus on essential concepts students need to understand and remember in each organizer and use clear labels and arrows.

-Provide clear instruction: Explain clearly how to use the graphic organizer, including the purpose, steps, and expectations. Provide models and scaffolding to use them effectively.

-Engage students with organizers: Encourage them to add illustrations such as icons, symbols, or images, make their own organizers and share them with the class. You can also use graphic organizers in cooperative learning to enhance discussion and group sharing.

-Use graphic organizers consistently: Students need to use regularly these tools to get familiar and comfortable with their use. So, make them an integral part of your instructional routine and keep providing guidance and practice to help students understand them better.

This was my suggested list of the best graphic organizers you can use in the classroom. You can also explore other types based on your students’ needs and learning objectives. Remember that graphic organizers are valuable tools for enhancing your student learning and engagement. So, follow the provided guidelines for effective integration.