When it comes to reading, there is a wide range of different tools and ideas we can utilize to help students get more out of their learning.
An excellent tool to use is a graphic organizer. Graphic organizers are a tool teachers can use to organize materials for their students. They can also be used to provide visual presentations for easier understanding and quick learning.
In today’s post, we’re going to show you some of the best graphic organizers teachers can use for reading. Before we do that though, let us tell you a bit more about what graphic organizers are and how they help.
What Are Graphic Organizers?
If you’ve never used a graphic organizer before, you’re seriously missing out, as they can be used to make your job much easier and improve your student’s learning experience.
Graphic organizers are valuable learning tools that can be used by teachers to organize their student’s thoughts and ideas.
Most teachers use graphic organizers as a tool to better present more detailed concepts through straightforward visuals.
Both teachers and students use graphic organizers to make decisions, brainstorm ideas, and develop a better understanding.
When it comes to reading, a graphic organizer can be used to help your students better organize and prioritize their reading.
Through a visual organizer, they can understand connections in the text better, improve their learning, and see what they need to do next.
Why Should You Use Graphic Organizers In The Classroom?
There are a number of reasons why you should use graphic organizers in your classroom but the main one has to be an improved understanding.
Graphic organizers give your students the chance to gain a deeper understanding of complicated things.
Of course, this makes them a very helpful and useful tool for every student you have.
Graphic organizers are also helpful for teachers as they can be used to see how students have developed and what they don’t quite understand yet.
They also give us an easier way to present things to students. We’ve listed some of the other benefits linked to using graphic organizers below!
Increased engagement
Easier for students to filter information
Keeps things organized
Improves student focus
Helps students display their ideas
Encourages students to learn more
Helps students become more strategic with their learning
The Best Graphic Organizers For Reading
Now you know more about graphic organizers, let’s take a look at the best types of graphic organizers for reading.
All the graphic organizers we’re about to show you can be used in your classroom so don’t be afraid to give all of them a try to see what you think.
1. T-Chart
One of the most popular graphic organizers is a T-chart. T-charts are simple organizers that feature two columns. These columns can be used to classify two different concepts, events, ideas, or objects.
When it comes to reading, we can use T-charts to examine key reading concepts such as cause and effect, or facts and opinions.
All you need to do to use this type of graphic organizer is label the two columns. Your students can then identify each concept and write their own ideas.
T-charts are also a great option because they can be easily used by students. Students can easily create their own charts and come up with their own concepts.
2. Circle Map
Another super simple graphic organizer you can introduce in your classroom is the circle map. Circle map organizers can be used to brainstorm ideas, link concepts, and identify relationships and connections.
This graphic organizer consists of one large circle that has a small circle in the center. In the small circle, a topic, concept, or idea is written.
Then, the larger circle is filled with ideas, connections, and links that relate to the concept in the middle.
In reading, this could relate to character relationships, events, ideas, and objects. This simple graphic organizer is perfect for preschoolers.
3. Spider Map
The spider map graphic organizer is particularly useful for reading when you need to explain things with more descriptive connections. This organizer is called a spider map because it looks like a spider’s web.
This graphic organizer has one circle in the middle with connecting arrows that branch out to smaller boxes or circles.
For example, the topic in the center could be characters in the book. Around the outside, students can then list the different characters the book mentions.
Once again, this is another easy graphic organizer your students can draw themselves to brainstorm their ideas.
4. Venn-Diagram
You can also use a Venn-Diagram when working on reading with your students. This is a simple graphic organizer that’s used to compare and contrast two different groups or concepts.
You can create this graphic organizer by drawing two large circles that overlap.
The main aim of this type of graphic organizer is to list all the differences between the two concepts or groups in the outer circles and the similarities in the parts of the circles that overlap.
You can use this type of graphic organizer to increase your student’s understanding of connections and relationships in two or more concepts. You can always add more overlapping circles to compare other groups too.
5. Sequence Chain
Next up, we have sequence chains. Sequence chains are easily one of the best learning tools educators can use when it comes to helping their students remember key moments in a story.
Not only can this graphic organizer be used to remember key moments in a story, but it can also be used to help students track the order in which events occurred.
In terms of what this organizer looks like, it consists of a series of boxes and arrows that make it easy to see the sequential events from the story.
You can use this graphic organizer in a number of different ways. It can be used to track events, list steps, and record ideas from the text.
6. Question Organizer
A great way to help your students learn is through questions and answers. Questions are key to learning so this type of graphic organizer is extremely useful and valuable.
A question graphic organizer is a brilliant tool to use to get your students to ask and answer questions related to their reading.
A simple organizer might include basic questions like who, what, where, when, and why. To use this organizer, students list questions about the story as they read.
They can then answer them once they’ve read the text. The teacher can also set the questions if there’s something in particular they want students to get out of the text.
7. Idea Wheel
As you would expect, an idea wheel is a type of graphic organizer used to help students brainstorm their ideas.
This graphic organizer is a combination of the circle map and spider map. It features one small circle and one large circle.
In the small circle, students write the main idea or concept. Then, in the larger circle, they write other key ideas and concepts that link to the ideas in the center.
For example, you might write the qualities of the character in a small circle, before making a larger circle with words like empathy, appreciation, and kind.
The ideas can then be looked at in more detail by forming another circle around the outside until you have a wheel.
8. Tree Chart
Finally, you can also use a tree chart when teaching reading. This graphic organizer looks a little bit like a family tree.
The top section of the tree is used to identify the main topic of the text before the branches are used to list ideas, concepts, and subtopics.
Then, below the subtopics, students can list any examples, ideas, and relevant details. This is a fabulous tool for times when you want students to classify different concepts.
Final Thoughts
Graphic organizers are a useful learning tool to use in the classroom when teaching reading. You can use this learning tool to better understand how your students think, present complex lessons, and make it easier for your students to learn.
The graphic organizers on our list can all be used to make your classroom a more enjoyable, interesting, and interactive place to be.
Now you know what graphic organizers you can use, we recommend you pick the ones you want to use and see what your students think.
We’re sure you’ll find them incredibly beneficial to their learning.
Hi, my name is Helena Waters and I was a teacher for 40 years before retiring last year.
During my time as a teacher I dedicated the majority of it to making classrooms as fun as possible, with educational parties, fun activities, and low cost entertainment that made the children excited about learning.
I taught children of all ages, from preschoolers to high school students. Now, with the pandemic having uprooted everything that children once knew about school and learning, I think that the need for my ideas is bigger than ever.
That is why I created School Sparks, a place in which I can write down and share all of my ideas on how to get students excited about going to school again. I hope that you’ll find some useful within a school setting, even at home too!
