Graphic Organizers

Presented by
David Amelunke
 Objectives

Learn what research shows about the use of

Graphic Organizers on student achievement
Learn when to use the various types of Graphic
Organizers
Learn methods to create Graphic Organizers
Generate ideas for use of Graphic Organizers in
your classroom
 Vocabulary

Nonlinguistic Representations - imaginary

forms of knowledge in the mind such as mental
pictures or even physical sensations
Visual Learning - a variety of activities and
systems for organizing information graphically
or visually
Graphic Organizers - visual depictions of
knowledge that help guide the thinking process
 Nonlinguistic
Representations
Information from Classroom
Instructions That Works: Research
Based-Strategies for Increasing
Student Achievement by Robert
Marzano, Debra Pickeringand Jane
E. Pollock
 Storing Information

Many Psychologists adhere to a dual coding

theory of information storage
This theory says that knowledge is stored in
the brain in two forms - a linguistic form and an
imagery form
Linguistic
The linguistic form is in words or statements
This form could be thought of as containing
actual statements in long-term memory

Imagery/Nonlinguistic
The imagery form is expressed as mental
pictures or even physical sensations such smell,
taste, touch, sound and kinesthetic association
 Using Both

The more we use both systems of

representation the better we are able to think
about and recall knowledge
This is particularly important in the classroom
because linguistically is the primary method of
presenting knowledge in the classroom
We either talk to students about content or
they read about new content
This means students are left to generate their
own nonlinguistic representations
 Increasing Student
Achievement

When teachers help students make non-

linguistic representations students achieve more
Engaging students in the creation of
nonlinguistic representations stimulates and
increases activity in the brain
 Generalizations Regarding
Nonlinguistic Representations
A variety of activities produce nonlinguistic
representations
The goal of instructional strategies is to
produce nonlinguistic representations of
knowledge in the minds of students
It can be accomplished in many ways:
Creating Graphic Representations
Making Physical Models
Generating Mental Pictures
Drawing Pictures and Pictographs
Engaging in Physical Activities
 Generalizations Regarding
Nonlinguistic Representations
Nonlinguistic representations should elaborate
on knowledge. For example a student can
elaborate on his knowledge of fractions when
he constructs a mental model of how a fraction
might appear in concrete form
The process of generating nonlinguistic
representations forces students to elaborate on
their knowledge and leads to deeper
understanding and easier recall of information
 Classroom Practice in
Nonlinguistic Representations
Graphic Organizers are the most common way
to help students generate nonlinguistic
representations
Graphic Organizers combine the linguistic
mode in that they use words and phrases and
the nonlinguistic mode in that they use symbols
and arrows to represent relationships
 Graphic Organizers have great utility in the
classroom because they correspond to six
common patterns that information can be
divided into:
1. Descriptive pattern
2. Time sequence pattern
3. Process/cause-effect pattern
4. Episode pattern
5. Generalization/principle pattern
6. Concept pattern
 Descriptive Pattern

Descriptive Patterns
can be used to
represent facts
about specific
people, places, Main Idea
things and events
This information
does not have to be
in any specific order
 Descriptive Pattern

Example Big

Tusks Elephants Gray

Big Ears
 Time Sequence Pattern

Time sequence patterns organize events in a

specific chronological order
For example, the events leading up to the
Vietnam War can be shown in a time sequence
pattern organizer

Event 1 Event 2 Event 3 Event 4

Process/Cause-Effect Pattern

Process/Cause-Effect Patterns
organize information into a
casual network leading to a
specific outcome

An example would be
study habits that make a
good student
 Episode Pattern

Episode Pattern Organizers arrange data about

specific events including:
1. Setting (time and place)
2. Specific People
3. A specific duration
4. A specific sequence of events
5. A particular cause and effect

An Example would be information

leading up to the Civil War
 Episode Pattern
An Example Duration
would be
information Place
leading up to
the Civil War
Time

Caus e Episode Effect

Person Person Person

 Generalization/Principle Patterns

Gereralization/Princi Generalization/Principle
ple Patterns
organize information
into general
statements with Example
supporting details.
An Example would
be statements Example
supporting a
hypothesis that
economic conditions
were the cause of Example
the Civil War.
 Concept Pattern

Concept Patterns organize information

around a word or phrase that represents
entire classes or categories of people, places
things or events
The characteristics or attributes of the
concept along with examples of each should
be included in this example.
An example would be a teacher asking a
student to show the concept of fables along
with examples and characteristics of them.
 Concept Pattern
Example
Characteris tic
A Concept Pattern could
look like this
Example

Example Concept
Characteris tic Example

Example

Example
Characteris tic
Example

Example

Example
 So how do you make
a Graphic Organizer
and what software can
you use?