Wednesday, January 09, 2013

Graphic Organizers Lead to Success

It is surprising to think that there was a time when graphic organizers were not used.  When I was a grade school student a writing assignment usually read like this, "Write an essay about your vacation, fill a page."  There was little to no guidance about organization, craft or voice.

We've come a long way since then when it comes to student writing, problem solving and project presentation.  We use graphic organizers to create "brain frames" for information collection, analysis and share.

The many, many graphic organizers our system uses are housed in numerous files and books in the school.  Hence access is not as simple as possible.  Therefore this week our PLC team will begin a discussion about the best graphic organizers to use for upcoming state-wide tests and grade-level projects and goals.

I've created an initial Google website to lead this discussion and host the organizers we deem to be the best resources for students.  Later, our MCAS coordinator will help us gain approval from the State for graphic organizers we want to make available to students with accommodations on upcoming tests--I wish we could make these tools available to all students, but unfortunately the tests, at this time, do not allow that.

What graphic organizers do you use most often?  How do those planners inform and support student work?  Do you have any thoughts or advice for our initial effort?  This process is one more way that we can collaborate around the goal of coaching student learning well.  Thanks in advance for your support and ideas.