Graphic Organizers

A graphic organizer is an instructional tool used to illustrate a student or class's prior knowledge about a topic or section of text; specific examples include the K-W-L-H Technique and the Anticipation/Reaction Guide. Other organizers include the:

"KWLH Technique"

The K-W-L-H teaching technique is a good method to help students activate prior knowledge. It is a group instruction activity developed by Donna Ogle (1986) that serves as a model for active thinking during reading.

K - Stands for helping students recall what they KNOW about the subject.

W - Stands for helping students determine what they WANT to learn.

L - Stands for helping students identify what they LEARN as they read.

H - Stands for HOW we can learn more (other sources where additional information on the topic can be found).

Students complete the "categories" section at the bottom of the graphic organizer by

asking themselves what each statement in the "L" section (What We Learned) describes.

They use these categories and the information in the "H" section (How Can We Learn

More) to learn more about the topic. Students also can use the categories to create

additional graphic organizers. They can use the organizers to review and write about

what they've learned.

Sample K-W-L-H

Dinosaurs

What We Know	What We Want to Find Out	What We Learned	How Can We Learn More
Dinosaurs are large. Dinosaurs are dead. They lived a long time ago. There is a movie about dinosaurs	How long ago did they live? Why did they die? How do we know what they looked like? Who are the people who study dinosaurs?	An archeologist has an exciting life. Dinosaurs eat plants and some eat meat. Some dinosaurs were gigantic, but had small brains. Fossils uncover dinosaur traits.	Research Museums Field Trips Archeological digs Videos Internet computer search
Categories of Information we expect to use: Size Career Eating Habits

"Anticipation/Reaction Guide"

An Anticipation/Reaction Guide is used to assess a class's knowledge before they begin a lesson.

Prior Knowledge Topic Survey

Anticipation/Reaction Guide

Instruction: Respond to each statement twice: once before the lesson and again after reading it.

• Write A if you agree with the statement
• Write B if you disagree with the statement

Response Before Lesson	TOPIC: Dinosaurs	Response After Lesson
	Dinosaurs are the most successful group of land animals ever to roam the Earth.
	Paleontology is the study of fossils.
	Human beings belong to the Zenozoic Era.
	Most dinosaurs have Greek names.
	Some dinosaurs are named for places in which their fossilized remains were found.
	Dinosaurs ruled our planet for over 150 million years.
	Dinosaurs had small brains

Continuation Regarding Graphic Organizers :

Spider Map

Used to describe a central idea: a thing (a geographic region), process (meiosis), concept (altruism), or proposition with support (experimental drugs should be available to AIDS victims). Key frame questions: What is the central idea? What are its attributes? What are its functions?

Series of Events Chain

Used to describe the stages of something (the life cycle of a primate); the steps in a linear procedure (how to neutralize an acid); a sequence of events (how feudalism led to the formation of nation states); or the goals, actions, and outcomes of a historical figure or character in a novel (the rise and fall of Napoleon). Key frame questions: What is the object, procedure, or initiating event? What are the stages or steps? How do they lead to one another? What is the final outcome?

Continuum Scale

Used for time lines showing historical events or ages (grade levels in school), degrees of something (weight), shades of meaning (Likert scales), or ratings scales (achievement in school). Key frame questions: What is being scaled? What are the end points?

Compare/Contrast Matrix

	Name 1	Name 2
Attribute 1
Attribute 2
Attribute 3

Used to show similarities and differences between two things (people, places, events, ideas, etc.). Key frame question: What things are being compared? How are they similar? How are they different?

Problem/Solution Outline

Used to represent a problem, attempted solutions, and results (the national debt). Key frame questions: What was the problem? Who had the problem? Why was it a problem? What attempts were made to solve the problem? Did those attempts succeed?

Network Tree

Used to show causal information (causes of poverty), a hierarchy (types of insects), or branching procedures (the circulatory system). Key frame questions: What is the superordinate category? What are the subordinate categories? How are they related? How many levels are there?

Human Interaction Outline

Used to show the nature of an interaction between persons or groups (Europeans settlers and American Indians). Key frame questions: Who are the persons or groups? What were their goals? Did they conflict or cooperate? What was the outcome for each person or group?

Fishbone Map

Used to show the causal interaction of a complex event (an election, a nuclear explosion) or complex phenomenon (juvenile delinquency, learning disabilities). Key frame questions: What are the factors that cause X ? How do they interrelate? Are the factors that cause X the same as those that cause X to persist?

Cycle

Used to show how a series of events interact to produce a set of results again and again (weather phenomena, cycles of achievement and failure, the life cycle). Key frame questions: What are the critical events in the cycle? How are they related? In what ways are they self-reinforcing?

SAMPLES of GRAPHIC ORGANIZERS :

1. Title: Classroom Organizer Workbook Sample

   Description: Contains 30 graphic organizers that will assist K-12 teachers to help students be strategic learners in any content area. Each graphic organizer comes complete with a description for the appropriate use of the organizer.

   

2. Title: Science Graphic Organizers Workbook Sample

   Description: The Science Graphic Organizer Workbook offers a variety of organizers that can be used to assist learners in developing the knowledge and skill related to science content. These organizers can be easily adapted for use in all grade levels.

   

3. Title: End Of School Series: Checklist For Teachers & Checklist For Parents

   Description: Imagine if you didn't have to spend a feverish day trying to prepare reminder checklist for parents or yourself. We did it for you! Everything teachers and parents could possibly need to do. Just print, copy, and hand out. You just saved one day of your life.

   

4. Title: Language Organizers Workbook Sample

   Description: Graphic organizers specifically designed for use in the Language Arts classroom. This graphic organizer pack includes graphic organizers for: Literature Analysis - characters, comparisons, complete works, paragraphs, chapters, story elements, and much more! Each graphic organizer comes complete with a description for the appropriate use of the organizer.

   
5. 
   

   Title: Math Graphic Organizer Pack Description: 30 high-quality printable graphic organizers designed specifically for math. Each sheet helps students focus on math concepts and increase higher level thinking skills. Includes a vast array of K-12 math concepts. A huge math helper.

Topic Sentence

“

By the grammar of a language is meant either the relations born by the words of a sentence and by sentences themselves one to another, or the systematized exposition of these.

”

Every paragraph needs a topic sentence. The topic sentence is usually the first sentence of the paragraph. It gives the reader an idea of what the paragraph is going to be about.

The supporting sentences need to be about the idea presented in the topic sentence. In a paragraph, every sentence should "belong".

The topic sentence is a primarily prescriptive grammatical term to describe what is usually, but not always, the first sentence in a paragraph. The topic sentence acts as a kind of summary and offers the reader an insightful view of the writer’s main ideas for the following paragraph. More than just being a mere summary, however, a topic sentence often provides a claim or an insight directly or indirectly related to the thesis. It adds cohesion to a paper and helps organize ideas both within the paragraph and the whole body of work
at large.

A topic sentence (also known as a focus sentence) encapsulates or organises an entire paragraph, and you should be careful to include one in most of your major paragraphs. Although topic sentences may appear anywhere in a paragraph, in academic essays they often appear at the beginning.

It might be helpful to think of a topic sentence as working in two directions simultaneously. It relates the paragraph to the essay's thesis, and thereby acts as a signpost for the argument of the paper as a whole, but it also defines the scope of the paragraph itself. For example, consider the following topic sentence:

Many fast-food chains make their profits from adding a special ingredient called "forget sauce" to their foods.

If this sentence controls the paragraph that follows, then all sentences in the paragraph must relate in some way to fast food, profit, and "forget sauce":

Made largely from edible oil products, this condiment is never listed on the menu.

This sentence fits in with the topic sentence because it is a description of the composition of "forget sauce."

In addition, this well-kept industry secret is the reason why ingredients are never listed on the packaging of victuals sold by these restaurants.

The transitional phrase "In addition" relates the composition of "forget sauce" to secret fast-food industry practices.

"Forget sauce" has a chemical property which causes temporary amnesia in consumers.

Now the paragraph moves on to the short-term effect on consumers:

After spending too much money on barely edible food bereft of any nutritional value, most consumers swear they will never repeat such a disagreeable experience.

This sentence describes its longer-term effects:

Within a short period, however, the chemical in "forget sauce" takes effect, and they can be depended upon to return and spend, older but no wiser.

Finally, I finish the paragraph by "proving" the claim contained in the topic sentence, that many fast-food chains make their profits from adding a special ingredient called "forget sauce" to their foods.

Analysing a Topic Sentence

Topic sentences often act like tiny thesis statements. Like a thesis statement, a topic sentence makes a claim of some sort. As the thesis statement is the unifying force in the essay, so the topic sentence must be the unifying force in the paragraph. Further, as is the case with the thesis statement, when the topic sentence makes a claim, the paragraph which follows must expand, describe, or prove it in some way. Topic sentences make a point and give reasons or examples to support it.

Consider the last paragraph about topic sentences, beginning with the topic sentence itself:

Topic sentences often act like tiny thesis statements.

This is my claim, or the point I will prove in the following paragraph. All the sentences that follow this topic sentence must relate to it in some way.

Like a thesis statement, a topic sentence makes a claim of some sort. As the thesis statement is the unifying force in the essay, so the topic sentence must be the unifying force in the paragraph.

These two sentences show how the reader can compare thesis statements and topic sentences: they both make a claim and they both provide a focus for the writing which follows.

Further, as is the case with the thesis statement, when the topic sentence makes a claim, the paragraph which follows must expand, describe, or prove it in some way.

Using the transitional word "further" to relate this sentence to those preceding it, I expand on my topic sentence by suggesting ways a topic sentence is related to the sentences that follow it.

Topic sentences make a point and give reasons or examples to support it.

Finally, I wrap up the paragraph by stating exactly how topic sentences act rather like tiny thesis statements.

( A well-organized paragraph supports or develops a single controlling idea, which is expressed in a sentence called the topic sentence. A topic sentence has several important functions: it substantiates or supports an essay’s thesis statement; it unifies the content of a paragraph and directs the order of the sentences; and it advises the reader of the subject to be discussed and how the paragraph will discuss it. Readers generally look to the first few sentences in a paragraph to determine the subject and perspective of the paragraph. That’s why it’s often best to put the topic sentence at the very beginning of the paragraph. In some cases, however, it’s more effective to place another sentence before the topic sentence—for example, a sentence linking the current paragraph to the previous one, or one providing background information.

Although most paragraphs should have a topic sentence, there are a few situations when a paragraph might not need a topic sentence. For example, you might be able to omit a topic sentence in a paragraph that narrates a series of events, if a paragraph continues developing an idea that you introduced (with a topic sentence) in the previous paragraph, or if all the sentences and details in a paragraph clearly refer—perhaps indirectly—to a main point. The vast majority of your paragraphs, however, should have a topic sentence. )