Question 6: How might this article influence my teaching? I did a lot of reflecting on these 4 chapters and enjoyed the different questioning strategies named in chapter 5. However, the one strategy that I see that I need to work more on is that found in chapter 6-graphic organizers. I had used graphic organizers when teaching elementary school but only with fictional stories. One of the points made by Fisher and Frey was that “graphic organizers can be used throughout the curriculum to help students understand the relationships between ideas.” This reminded me of some recent science classes that I taught during which a couple of the higher performing students kept asking questions about how the various concepts being taught fit together. I tried my best to explain, but realized that although the questioners might have understood the explanations, the rest of the class who might not have even processed the new concepts, was probably lost. I am eager to go back and have the students try making graphic organizers to help improve their comprehension of new material. Another point made, however, was that the graphic organizer should only be thought of as “an intermediate tool for transforming information in the learner’s mind or on paper”. Over the past year, I have been thinking about how I can have students write better paragraphs in math and science. The example of a science activity on pages 117 to 118 was very practical and showed a scaffolded approach to helping students write in the science content area. The biology activity began with a word sort then progressed to a concept map. This would make information organized and clear enough for students to write a summary. I can also see the benefits of creating a graphic organizer for myself. At times, I realize that I have not always made the connections that I need to. Sometimes I am surprised by the questions that students ask. Although it is acceptable to admit to needing to research the answer, I would rather have thought of all the connections and questions ahead of time. This would also help me to ensure that I have created a reason for the students to learn the material I am teaching. Since I wanted to look at more examples, I did an internet search and discovered http://www.studenthandouts.com/graphicorganizers.htm which has free printable organizers that I could start with. As the students and I get more comfortable with graphic organizers, I would have students design their own from the beginning rather than using templates. I do still have a couple of questions of using graphic organizers. First of all, should the middle school team work together to decide on a consistent design or use of graphic organizers or would this be more content-specific? Should a teacher start the students off with the words to be included or should students be given a text and choose the words? What part of the process of graphic organizers and writing summaries would be done in class and what could be done independently for homework?
I know I am replying to my own post but I decided to try a graphic organizer for my science class. At first, they did not know what I was referring to, but then I started drawing one and they said, "Oh, a web!" I also reminded them of a couple of other organizers they may have seen. We then drew one out together to clarify the information we had discussed the class before. I stressed that their diagram did not have to look exactly like mine. I thought of leaving it at that but then decided to continue with the writing activity. All students were able to write a few clear sentences using the organizer. I was excited and had to share!
Linda, I have also used graphic organizers more in an elementary school setting. I can remember using some sort of organizer frequently. After using the same ones enough, the students grew to recognize them, and were able to easily participate in filling them in. However, when we had to do our units for MLED520 I did my planning for the unit using a science textbook from a series that North Smithfield Middle School is currently using. It was Earth's Atmosphere by McDougal Littell, 2007 edition. I don't know if your school is currently using this series. Within that textbook there actually was a section that focused on using graphic organizers within science lessons to help students organize their notes. The book suggested that you demonstrate using a specific organizer that you would like the students to get used to using, and then reinforce it with them so it becomes part of their daily routine. The textbook suggested that the end result would be more efficient use of student time, and more effective note taking. I liked this idea and used the graphic organizer that the text recommended throughout my unit. I cannot wait to try out more graphic organizers in my own classroom.
This reply is to Michelle's reply to Linda (and in part, to the book). I know that the book suggests using the same kind of graphic organizer so that students become more comfortable with them, but I also know that the organizers might need to be different for different concepts and timing. In the book, it suggests that they can "activate prior knowledge, encourage brainstorming, record details in detail, or serve as a review of the topic". I imagine that each of these times would/could require a different graphic organizer. The book also mentions students adding "to their repertoire of graphic organizers" p108, to make sure that there are forms ready when the students want to use them. The format of my highly structured school would not allow for students to go and get a graphic organizer on their own, so it would need to be part of the timing of the lesson to go and pick your own organizer. On top of that, where do you draw the line between letting students pick the organizer that they are most comfortable with, and designating to them what would be the most useful? Do you make suggestions for say, vocabulary organizer, and then use the same one across contents? Or do you have a particular vocab organizer in each content? I am just conflicted with the myriad of options that the book provided, and cannot determine for myself a best strategy for using them.
5. What questions do you have after reading this article/chapter? What steps will you take to pursue answers to these questions?
After reading this chapter, I have many questions about the kinds of graphic organizers I can be using in my math classes. I am familiar with the tree diagrams that are mentioned briefly on pages 106 – 107, but have never found a use for tree diagrams outside of probability or what we called “money trees”. Reading about the graphic organizers in in the chapter, I immediately felt that they were biased towards the classes where more text is involved, and found myself enviously staring at the “graphic organizer for use during reading” or the “states of matter” concept maps on page 109. I went back and reread the chapter again, thinking about chapter 4 as I did so, and started to critically think about how I could adapt some of the organizers in the book to fit my needs. It occurred to me that the internet would probably have a plethora of graphic organizers already aligned to the common core, and a quick search brought me to Math Equals Love , a math blog, and started to look through some of her foldables. I realized that I had been doing graphic organizers intermittently in my class, and that they didn’t really need to be used all the time to be effective. The rest of my questions will be ongoing “self” questions, where I will be challenging myself to find ways to use graphic organizers more frequently and effectively in my class.
Linda, first of all, congratulations!! I'm glad the web worked for you. Second, I don't think that it really matters if a team or classroom teacher decide to use specific graphic organizers, as long as the instruction is explicit and students understand that there is a practical use for them. Honestly, I have chosen different jobs using T-charts and flow-charts because, as you noticed, they are useful in life, as long as you know how to use them. Students would probably benefit from a team-wide set of specific organizers to show them that graphic organizers are not just "something we do in English" or whatnot, so I like that idea. However, I don't think it really matters too much, as long as the students understand their practicality. I loved the idea of using graphic organizers for assessment from this chapter. I use them with my students for note-taking, but I, too, hate to see children view them as busywork, and I struggle with using them as a bridge to students completing other assignments and showing that they can recall/synthesize information based on the visual.
Also, I am a little unsure about what you mean with your question about the words that go inside the web, but I am guessing you are asking who chooses what information to include in a graphic organizer: teacher or student. I suppose it is a process, so it seems like it would just be best to explicitly teach how to use the different organizers and then scaffold instruction so students eventually use them independently. There is a great paragraph in the chapter called "Teaching Graphic Organizers" that points out that there is no right or wrong way to use them, but we can give students pointers to get them started. For example, we should show children how to avoid including too much/too little information, give them time to work in pairs so students can help one another, and we can give them guiding questions so they have a general idea of the most essential information to include. The goal here is not to have students feel that they are creating these for you, the teacher, but to give them a skill to draw on in the future for studying (and decision-making, in my case). As far as when to work on the paragraph, that probably is another exercise in scaffolding. The students might not be used to using their organizers to write with, so you might have to start off showing them how to extract information from their diagrams and then how to write a reflection, but once they are comfortable, I don't see why it can't be homework or a short exit ticket or even a quiz. That seems like a decision you can make when you know how proficient your students are with this new skill.
This is a reply to Alyssa, and others, really. I have mentioned before that I think I am the graphic organizer queen - to the point where I wonder if I overdo it. Concept webs were used this week - as a tool with essential questions. All students need to use a graphic organizer to write their Evidence Sandwiches - a writing process that teaches the students to find appropriate evidence to support their focus statement. I have been teaching them how to use this organizer in particular, since the beginning of school. I have made modifications to them to further scaffold learning and support my struggling writers. As sixth graders, they are not able to construct a well-written, evidence supported paragraph quite yet. They are learning that if they hand something in that does not make sense, or does not have proper paraphrasing and evidence, most of the time it is because they did not follow the directions of the graphic organizer. Some feel they are "above" using one, but we are required to have them write with one, to the point where they become a rough draft.
For most of us, I think, we naturally use t-charts and Venn diagrams but forget they are actually "graphic organizers." To assist some struggling readers in my classroom, I have a pocket-chart full of various organizers from which they can choose. Alyssa - I am wondering....Does the rigidity of the school you are teaching at allow the ELA students to choose their own graphic organizer for writing? I am hopeful that maybe it is just so disciplined in certain classes, rather than all core subjects. But I recall you mentioning a militaristic approach to behavior management.
One thing that is a little challenging for me is that several of the core teachers use graphic organizers in 6th grade, but they use different terminology. I think the sixth graders get a bit overwhelmed with this and would prefer there was common language. However, I understand that Social Studies folks and Science folks have their own lingo and want to stick with that. I just think it would be easier for the students to grasp the concept of a focus statement if it were also linked to being called a thesis or a claim. So, I try to mention all of them, reminding them that they all pretty much mean the same thing. It seems to be sinking in. A little!
As far as I know they don't have a choice in their graphic organizer. Thinking through the work that I have seen scholars use in other classes, I don't know that they graphic organizers very often. If students are using graphic organizers, they are typed up in the note packets that the students get, so they wouldn't have a choice to pick another one. During their writing process they use a sheet with boxes on it where they fill in their topic sentence, evidence, conclusion sentence, etc. I'm sure that this has a fancy name, but I am not aware of it. I am assuming that not all graphic organizers are prepopulated with what needs to be filled in, but in ELA they are also told specifically what should go in each box. I know in math, even when we do different tables or vocab square, I always have at least part of it filled in for them. It seemed that our book didn't talk about the significance of having organizers filled in or not. Thinking through this, it is probably a scaffolding technique to get the students more used to the organizers. That way, even if they are called something different, students will understand the flow of the chart and be able to fill them in.
Lisa, you made me smile by bringing up the sandwich graphic organizers! I had almost forgotten about them since it's been a while that I have been able to use them with students. My students always liked them and would joke about adding EXTRA details as the mustard, mayo or pickle. You also made me think about how most ELA teachers I know ask all students to use the same graphic organizer prior to completing the next step in a writing project. It made me realize how, as an adult, I am drawn to certain methods and tools for organizing my thoughts over others, so much so that to use the "wrong" one (for me) is essentially ineffective as a planning tool. It might be an obvious thing - to let students chose their own - but to me, I really had a revelation today! Thank you!
Here's an example of a sandwich graphic organizer: http://www.docstoc.com/docs/40131644/ESSAY-WRITING-SANDWICH-DIAGRAM---PDF
Question 6: How might this article influence my teaching?
ReplyDeleteI did a lot of reflecting on these 4 chapters and enjoyed the different questioning strategies named in chapter 5. However, the one strategy that I see that I need to work more on is that found in chapter 6-graphic organizers. I had used graphic organizers when teaching elementary school but only with fictional stories. One of the points made by Fisher and Frey was that “graphic organizers can be used throughout the curriculum to help students understand the relationships between ideas.” This reminded me of some recent science classes that I taught during which a couple of the higher performing students kept asking questions about how the various concepts being taught fit together. I tried my best to explain, but realized that although the questioners might have understood the explanations, the rest of the class who might not have even processed the new concepts, was probably lost. I am eager to go back and have the students try making graphic organizers to help improve their comprehension of new material.
Another point made, however, was that the graphic organizer should only be thought of as “an intermediate tool for transforming information in the learner’s mind or on paper”. Over the past year, I have been thinking about how I can have students write better paragraphs in math and science. The example of a science activity on pages 117 to 118 was very practical and showed a scaffolded approach to helping students write in the science content area. The biology activity began with a word sort then progressed to a concept map. This would make information organized and clear enough for students to write a summary.
I can also see the benefits of creating a graphic organizer for myself. At times, I realize that I have not always made the connections that I need to. Sometimes I am surprised by the questions that students ask. Although it is acceptable to admit to needing to research the answer, I would rather have thought of all the connections and questions ahead of time. This would also help me to ensure that I have created a reason for the students to learn the material I am teaching. Since I wanted to look at more examples, I did an internet search and discovered http://www.studenthandouts.com/graphicorganizers.htm which has free printable organizers that I could start with. As the students and I get more comfortable with graphic organizers, I would have students design their own from the beginning rather than using templates.
I do still have a couple of questions of using graphic organizers. First of all, should the middle school team work together to decide on a consistent design or use of graphic organizers or would this be more content-specific? Should a teacher start the students off with the words to be included or should students be given a text and choose the words? What part of the process of graphic organizers and writing summaries would be done in class and what could be done independently for homework?
I know I am replying to my own post but I decided to try a graphic organizer for my science class. At first, they did not know what I was referring to, but then I started drawing one and they said, "Oh, a web!" I also reminded them of a couple of other organizers they may have seen. We then drew one out together to clarify the information we had discussed the class before. I stressed that their diagram did not have to look exactly like mine. I thought of leaving it at that but then decided to continue with the writing activity. All students were able to write a few clear sentences using the organizer. I was excited and had to share!
DeleteLinda, I have also used graphic organizers more in an elementary school setting. I can remember using some sort of organizer frequently. After using the same ones enough, the students grew to recognize them, and were able to easily participate in filling them in. However, when we had to do our units for MLED520 I did my planning for the unit using a science textbook from a series that North Smithfield Middle School is currently using. It was Earth's Atmosphere by McDougal Littell, 2007 edition. I don't know if your school is currently using this series. Within that textbook there actually was a section that focused on using graphic organizers within science lessons to help students organize their notes. The book suggested that you demonstrate using a specific organizer that you would like the students to get used to using, and then reinforce it with them so it becomes part of their daily routine. The textbook suggested that the end result would be more efficient use of student time, and more effective note taking. I liked this idea and used the graphic organizer that the text recommended throughout my unit. I cannot wait to try out more graphic organizers in my own classroom.
DeleteThis reply is to Michelle's reply to Linda (and in part, to the book).
DeleteI know that the book suggests using the same kind of graphic organizer so that students become more comfortable with them, but I also know that the organizers might need to be different for different concepts and timing. In the book, it suggests that they can "activate prior knowledge, encourage brainstorming, record details in detail, or serve as a review of the topic". I imagine that each of these times would/could require a different graphic organizer. The book also mentions students adding "to their repertoire of graphic organizers" p108, to make sure that there are forms ready when the students want to use them. The format of my highly structured school would not allow for students to go and get a graphic organizer on their own, so it would need to be part of the timing of the lesson to go and pick your own organizer. On top of that, where do you draw the line between letting students pick the organizer that they are most comfortable with, and designating to them what would be the most useful? Do you make suggestions for say, vocabulary organizer, and then use the same one across contents? Or do you have a particular vocab organizer in each content? I am just conflicted with the myriad of options that the book provided, and cannot determine for myself a best strategy for using them.
5. What questions do you have after reading this article/chapter? What steps will you take to pursue answers to these questions?
ReplyDeleteAfter reading this chapter, I have many questions about the kinds of graphic organizers I can be using in my math classes. I am familiar with the tree diagrams that are mentioned briefly on pages 106 – 107, but have never found a use for tree diagrams outside of probability or what we called “money trees”. Reading about the graphic organizers in in the chapter, I immediately felt that they were biased towards the classes where more text is involved, and found myself enviously staring at the “graphic organizer for use during reading” or the “states of matter” concept maps on page 109. I went back and reread the chapter again, thinking about chapter 4 as I did so, and started to critically think about how I could adapt some of the organizers in the book to fit my needs. It occurred to me that the internet would probably have a plethora of graphic organizers already aligned to the common core, and a quick search brought me to Math Equals Love , a math blog, and started to look through some of her foldables. I realized that I had been doing graphic organizers intermittently in my class, and that they didn’t really need to be used all the time to be effective. The rest of my questions will be ongoing “self” questions, where I will be challenging myself to find ways to use graphic organizers more frequently and effectively in my class.
Linda, first of all, congratulations!! I'm glad the web worked for you. Second, I don't think that it really matters if a team or classroom teacher decide to use specific graphic organizers, as long as the instruction is explicit and students understand that there is a practical use for them. Honestly, I have chosen different jobs using T-charts and flow-charts because, as you noticed, they are useful in life, as long as you know how to use them. Students would probably benefit from a team-wide set of specific organizers to show them that graphic organizers are not just "something we do in English" or whatnot, so I like that idea. However, I don't think it really matters too much, as long as the students understand their practicality. I loved the idea of using graphic organizers for assessment from this chapter. I use them with my students for note-taking, but I, too, hate to see children view them as busywork, and I struggle with using them as a bridge to students completing other assignments and showing that they can recall/synthesize information based on the visual.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I am a little unsure about what you mean with your question about the words that go inside the web, but I am guessing you are asking who chooses what information to include in a graphic organizer: teacher or student. I suppose it is a process, so it seems like it would just be best to explicitly teach how to use the different organizers and then scaffold instruction so students eventually use them independently. There is a great paragraph in the chapter called "Teaching Graphic Organizers" that points out that there is no right or wrong way to use them, but we can give students pointers to get them started. For example, we should show children how to avoid including too much/too little information, give them time to work in pairs so students can help one another, and we can give them guiding questions so they have a general idea of the most essential information to include. The goal here is not to have students feel that they are creating these for you, the teacher, but to give them a skill to draw on in the future for studying (and decision-making, in my case). As far as when to work on the paragraph, that probably is another exercise in scaffolding. The students might not be used to using their organizers to write with, so you might have to start off showing them how to extract information from their diagrams and then how to write a reflection, but once they are comfortable, I don't see why it can't be homework or a short exit ticket or even a quiz. That seems like a decision you can make when you know how proficient your students are with this new skill.
This is a reply to Alyssa, and others, really. I have mentioned before that I think I am the graphic organizer queen - to the point where I wonder if I overdo it. Concept webs were used this week - as a tool with essential questions. All students need to use a graphic organizer to write their Evidence Sandwiches - a writing process that teaches the students to find appropriate evidence to support their focus statement. I have been teaching them how to use this organizer in particular, since the beginning of school. I have made modifications to them to further scaffold learning and support my struggling writers. As sixth graders, they are not able to construct a well-written, evidence supported paragraph quite yet. They are learning that if they hand something in that does not make sense, or does not have proper paraphrasing and evidence, most of the time it is because they did not follow the directions of the graphic organizer. Some feel they are "above" using one, but we are required to have them write with one, to the point where they become a rough draft.
ReplyDeleteFor most of us, I think, we naturally use t-charts and Venn diagrams but forget they are actually "graphic organizers." To assist some struggling readers in my classroom, I have a pocket-chart full of various organizers from which they can choose. Alyssa - I am wondering....Does the rigidity of the school you are teaching at allow the ELA students to choose their own graphic organizer for writing? I am hopeful that maybe it is just so disciplined in certain classes, rather than all core subjects. But I recall you mentioning a militaristic approach to behavior management.
One thing that is a little challenging for me is that several of the core teachers use graphic organizers in 6th grade, but they use different terminology. I think the sixth graders get a bit overwhelmed with this and would prefer there was common language. However, I understand that Social Studies folks and Science folks have their own lingo and want to stick with that. I just think it would be easier for the students to grasp the concept of a focus statement if it were also linked to being called a thesis or a claim. So, I try to mention all of them, reminding them that they all pretty much mean the same thing. It seems to be sinking in. A little!
As far as I know they don't have a choice in their graphic organizer. Thinking through the work that I have seen scholars use in other classes, I don't know that they graphic organizers very often. If students are using graphic organizers, they are typed up in the note packets that the students get, so they wouldn't have a choice to pick another one. During their writing process they use a sheet with boxes on it where they fill in their topic sentence, evidence, conclusion sentence, etc. I'm sure that this has a fancy name, but I am not aware of it. I am assuming that not all graphic organizers are prepopulated with what needs to be filled in, but in ELA they are also told specifically what should go in each box. I know in math, even when we do different tables or vocab square, I always have at least part of it filled in for them. It seemed that our book didn't talk about the significance of having organizers filled in or not. Thinking through this, it is probably a scaffolding technique to get the students more used to the organizers. That way, even if they are called something different, students will understand the flow of the chart and be able to fill them in.
DeleteLisa, you made me smile by bringing up the sandwich graphic organizers! I had almost forgotten about them since it's been a while that I have been able to use them with students. My students always liked them and would joke about adding EXTRA details as the mustard, mayo or pickle. You also made me think about how most ELA teachers I know ask all students to use the same graphic organizer prior to completing the next step in a writing project. It made me realize how, as an adult, I am drawn to certain methods and tools for organizing my thoughts over others, so much so that to use the "wrong" one (for me) is essentially ineffective as a planning tool. It might be an obvious thing - to let students chose their own - but to me, I really had a revelation today! Thank you!
ReplyDeleteHere's an example of a sandwich graphic organizer: http://www.docstoc.com/docs/40131644/ESSAY-WRITING-SANDWICH-DIAGRAM---PDF