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Page 1: Copyright © 2010 Pearson Canada Inc., Toronto, Ontario. · genres of questioning, effective group work, designing lessons, critical thinking, inquiry, role playing, inductive and

Copyright © 2010 Pearson Canada Inc., Toronto, Ontario. All rights reserved. This publication (work) is protected by copyright. You are authorized to print one copy of this publication (work) for your personal, non-commercial use only. See Terms of Use for more information. Permission should be obtained from the publisher prior to any prohibited reproduction, storage in a retrieval system, use on an interactive whiteboard or transmission in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or likewise. Contact the Permissions Department for more information. Except as allowed in the preceding paragraphs, you may not modify, copy, distribute, republish, commercially exploit, or update this publication (work) or any other material on this web site without the prior consent of Pearson Canada. No intellectual property or other rights in and to this publication (work) are transferred to you.

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G R A P H I C I N T E L L I G E N C E

© B A R R I E B E N N E T T2

* See enlarged diagram in Appendix 18

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ASSESSMENT

HOW WELEARN

INSTRUCTION

CURRICULUM

EDUCATIONALCHANGESYSTEMICCHANGE

The focus of this book is on the intelligent application ofgraphic organizers in kindergarten to university

classrooms. To the right is a statement from acurriculum document. Statements such as this arecommon in curriculum documents. That said,knowing about graphic organizers andunderstanding them is one thing; playing with themintelligently is another. More importantly, theexamples and ideas played out in this book focus onhow students can eventually integrate multiple graphicorganizers to clarify and illustrate their thinking. Forexample, the graphic organizer on the previous pageintegrates Fish Bone, Venn Diagrams, and Mind Maps. MindMaps, Fish Bone diagrams and Venn diagrams encourage analysis.

Tangentially, this book represents one aspect of instructional intelligence (II). Instructionalintelligence refers to the intersecting of assessment, curriculum, instruction, how we learn,educational change, and systemic change in the design of powerful learning environments.This is examined with more precision and detail in Chapter Three: Graphic Organizers andInstructional Intelligence.

Graphic organizers represent one of many instructional areas. Other areas would be thegenres of questioning, effective group work, designing lessons, critical thinking, inquiry, roleplaying, inductive and deductive thinking etc.,—all of which morph into each other in thedesign of learning experiences. A delightfully complex process.

C H A P T E R 1 : GRAPHIC ORGANIZERS…A QUICK INTRODUCTION

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Chapter 1 Graphic Organizers…A Quick Introduction

Chapter 1 Overview

• Definition of GraphicOrganizers

• Brief description of theGraphic Organizerswoven into this book

• Classification of thoseGraphic Organizersaccording to classroom application

Use and construct a variety ofgraphic organizers to clarify andinterpret information (e.g., causeand effect diagrams linking theenvironment and First Nation

Cultures … apply Mind Maps toconnect the results of early

contact … etc., etc.)

Curriculum Document:

3

Page 4: Copyright © 2010 Pearson Canada Inc., Toronto, Ontario. · genres of questioning, effective group work, designing lessons, critical thinking, inquiry, role playing, inductive and

Definition of Graphic OrganizersFor the most part, graphic organizers are intentionally (and often unknowingly) supportedby the work of David Ausabel (1962, 1963). His work focused on providing frameworks toassist us in organizing or making sense of information. Organizers can be verbal orgraphic. In this book, graphic organizers are visual frameworks that assist those involved in learning to organize, clarify, connect, rank, assess and evaluate their thinking. Youimmediately see that graphic organizers invoke levels of thinking—say from a taxonomysuch as Bloom’s Taxonomy. They also invoke a type of thinking—like compare andcontrast, inductive, inquiry, and predict.

Organizers can be placed on a continuum that ranks them from least to most complex interms of introducing students to the process of constructing them. Time Lines and FlowCharts, when applied to more complex areas can be very complex. For the most part, themore complex the organizer, the more powerfully it impacts learning. Below, theorganizers presented in this book are placed on a continuum of least to most complex interms of the skills the students must have to complete them. This ranking is based on mywork in classrooms with teachers over the last twenty-three years and their research intotheir use. You may rank them differently.

This ranking also, most likely, ranks them according to their impact on assisting students to organize information for learning—from least powerful to most powerful.

Power, when used in terms of impact on learning, is a statistical term that evolved from theinvention of computers and the development of a statistical process known as meta-analysis (Glass, 1982). Power tells us how much of an effect something has on somethingelse. For example, we might want to know the effect Mind Maps have on student retentionof information. We could also understand the concept of ‘power’ when we think of buildnga house. If we wanted to reduce the size of a plank, then sand paper would not have asmuch power as a table saw in terms of reducing the size of a plank. Tools, such as, files andplanes fit somewhere in between. In the world of medicine, penicillin has more power tofight infection than soap and water. On the following page is a more in-depth description ofpower as it relates to impact on learning.

LEAST COMPLEX MOST COMPLEX

TIME LINE, FLOW CHART, WORD WEB, RANKING LADDER, VENN DIAGRAM, FISH BONE, THEMATIC MAP, CLUSTER MAP, MIND MAP, CONCEPT MAP

LEAST POWERFUL MOST POWERFUL

TIME LINE, FLOW CHART, WORD WEB, RANKING LADDER, VENN DIAGRAM, FISH BONE, THEMATIC MAP, CLUSTER MAP, MIND MAP, CONCEPT MAP

G R A P H I C I N T E L L I G E N C E

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© B A R R I E B E N N E T T

C H A P T E R 1 : GRAPHIC ORGANIZERS…A QUICK INTRODUCTION

Instructional PowerOne responsibility we have as educators is to create learning situations that maximizestudent learning. One approach to maximizing student learning is selecting thoseinstructional methods that have the most power to impact student learning.

In addition to selecting the most powerful instructional method, we can also integratemultiple instructional methods to compound the effect. The statistical term researchers useto communicate ‘power’ is known as ‘effect size (ES)’. Simply put, it tells us how much ofan effect an innovation has on student learning by subtracting the mean score of the controlgroup (Xc) from the experimental group (Xe) and then dividing the result by the standarddeviation of the control group (SDc)

The formula is below.

ES = Xe – Xc_________SDc

Below is an example of how this looks on a normal curve. The Blue is the control groupnormal curve with the mean score at the 50th percentile; the Red is the experimental groupwith the mean score unknown. So, how do we calculate it?

Note that the area inside each standard deviation represents a standard percentage; thosepercentages are rounded up to whole numbers. You can see that once you get beyond threestandard deviations you have almost 100 percent of a population.

So, looking below, the effect size is 1.25, so you simply add up the percentages inside eachstandard deviation. The first standard deviation represents 34 percent; then add to that .25 ofthe second, which is 1–4 of 12 or 3 percent. So this represents a shift from the 50th to the 87thpercentile in favour of the experimental group.

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So, now we know we can have instructional methods that are less complex and lesspowerful to more complex and more powerful. In addition, we could describe a teacher’sinstructional repertoire as containing a low number of instructional methods to a highnumber of instructional methods.

We could also add in the dimension of using these methods in isolation or integratingthem.

Below is what it might look like if we combined those continuums into a 3-D diagram.

Notice that the lines leave the dimension of the box; the box is only there to illustrate the 3-D nature of the diagram. The idea of a teacher’s repertoire having an end point is notrealistic; nor do we know the ultimate level of power we might achieve by integratinginstructional methods in an endless number of patterns. As we invent or design newmethods, the combinations simply increase. This would imply that all teachers could teachthe same two week unit and teach it differently and be equally effective or ineffective.

G R A P H I C I N T E L L I G E N C E

LOW NUMBER OF METHODS HIGH NUMBER OF METHODS

LOW INTEGRATION HIGH INTEGRATION

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© B A R R I E B E N N E T T

C H A P T E R 1 : GRAPHIC ORGANIZERS…A QUICK INTRODUCTION

A Brief HistoricalPerspective: The useof graphics to portraythinking has beenaround for centuries …and employed in manycultures. For example,Venn Diagrams were not ‘invented’ by JohnVenn. Although heinfluenced their use inEducation, George Booleapplied them in the early 1800’s. (Have youheard of Boolean Logicin computer searches?)Interestingly, theChristians and Muslimsused graphic organizersin the 12th Century. You may like to know that both Boole and Venn were mathematicians.

7

BLOME, Richard (1685). MUSICK. A hand coloured copper engraving from 1685. This engravingbore the arms of John Reresby of Thribergh. A beautifully worked engraving, showing the symbolsand notations of music, surrounded by a variety of instruments, and with an ensemble of musiciansto the bottom of the engraving.

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Description of the Graphic Organizers: From Least to Most ComplexTime Lines

Time Lines are like Flow Charts, but not all Flow Charts are like Time Lines. The VennDiagram below illustrates that relationship.

Time Lines, like the one presented on the next page, represent a way of having studentsgrasp the evolving nature of something as it relates to time (seconds, hours, days, weeks,months, years, decades, centuries etc.). For older students, Time Lines are not complex tounderstand. For younger students Time Lines can be formidable; younger students often donot grasp the abstract nature of time. If students do not grasp the unit of time required forthat Time Line (say centuries) then their work will not be meaningful for them—therefore less motivating.

In most applications Time Lines represent the recall and comprehension level of Bloom’s Taxonomy.

G R A P H I C I N T E L L I G E N C E

Please see Chapter 6 for a more detailedapplication of Time Lines.

CAR

FLOW CHARTSVEHICLES

TIMELINES

All cars are vehicles; but not all vehicles are cars.CARS

LEAST COMPLEX MOST COMPLEX

TIME LINE

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C H A P T E R 1 : GRAPHIC ORGANIZERS…A QUICK INTRODUCTION

9

Time Line—The French Revolution

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G R A P H I C I N T E L L I G E N C E

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Flow Charts

MIND MAP

FLOWCHART

CONCEPT MAP

FLOWCHART

LEAST COMPLEX MOST COMPLEX

TIME LINE, FLOW CHART

Does it conclude or provide

a transition?

writemy topicsentence

Writinga paragraph

go tostep two

findone

go tostep three

findone

go tostep four

go tostep seven

findout

edityour supporting

sentence

Rework yourconcludingsentence.

You aredone. Fill inyour rubric.

write mysupportingsentences

write myconcluding or

transition sentence

Do I knowwhat a topic

sentenceis?

Do I havea topic for the

paragraph?

step 3

step 4

step 5

step 1step 2

step 6

if no

if no

if yes

if yes if no

if yes if no

if yes

step 7

step 8

Do I knowwhat a paragraph

is?

Do mysupporting sentences

all relate to the topic sentenceand do they flow one

into the other?

Bloom’s Taxonomy

• Synthesis

• Evaluation

• Analysis

• Application

• Comprehension

•Recall

Please see Chapter 7 for a more detailed applicationof Flow Charts.

Flow Charts are one of the most pervasive of all graphic organizers. You can find themapplied at all levels (primary to university) and into the world of business. The examplebelow illustrates a secondary students’ Flow Chart.

Flow Charts are more complex than Time Lines. Although Flow Charts can also integratewith Time Lines, they also ‘ask’ the learner to prioritize the sequence of steps through theanalysis of each step in that sequence. Most Mind Maps and Concept Maps may at times act as Flow Charts as the ideas flow in a hierarchical structure. The Venn Diagram belowillustrates that relationship. For the most part, like Time Lines, Flow Charts support theRecall and the Comprehension levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy. One could also argue analysis.That said, if on an exam, the students are simply labeling or constructing what was done inclass, then that exam question is most likely at the recall Level of Bloom’s Taxonomy.

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C H A P T E R 1 : GRAPHIC ORGANIZERS…A QUICK INTRODUCTION

Word Webs

LEAST COMPLEX MOST COMPLEX

TIME LINE, FLOW CHART, WORD WEB

Please see Chapter 8 for a more detailedapplication of Word Webs.

* See enlarged diagram in Appendix 37

Word Webs, because they usually start in the middle of the page, are like Mind Maps withoutthe pictures and colour. From another perspective, they are like Concept Maps without thelinking words. Word Webs could be considered precursors to Mind Maps and ConceptMaps. Word Webs often push the recall and comprehension levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy.Below is an example of a simpler Word Web.

Although Word Webs, when done at the most refined level are hierarchical, they tend to bemore of a ‘free write’ where students start with a key idea and branch out with a flow ofideas that are more like a Brain Storm and Flow Chart merged than a hierarchical structurethat involves analysis. Below is a more sophisticated Word Web, that is pushing toward aMind Map.

1 1

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G R A P H I C I N T E L L I G E N C E

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Ranking Ladders

Ranking Ladders are one of the only Graphic Organizers to primarily encourage theevaluation level of Bloom’s Taxonomy. For that reason they are considered more complexthan Time Lines, Flow Charts, and Word Webs. That said, that is only likely to happen if thestudents and teachers have taken the time to share their thinking as to why they prioritizedthem the way they did. If not, then the Ranking Ladder would slip down to one of theeasiest to apply. Below is an example of a Ranking Ladder.

Their power is the ease with which they can be woven into other Graphic Organizers such as Fish Bone Diagrams. See the example below. The Ranking Ladder can play out in twoplaces—from the front to the back of the Fish Bone and also down each of the lines thatcome down from the key ideas. Below is the structure for integrating a Ranking Ladder and Fish Bone.

3 1

4 2

1

2

3

12

34

3

2

1

3

2

1

LEAST COMPLEX MOST COMPLEX

TIME LINE, FLOW CHART, WORD WEB, RANKING LADDER

Please see Chapter 10 for a more detailedapplication of Ranking Ladders.

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Venn Diagrams

Venn Diagrams are widely used and just as widely misunderstood. Rarely do we see booksthat illustrate any other configuration than two circles overlapping. Their ease of use makethem viable in Kindergarten to University classrooms. Below are the three basicconfigurations each employing two circles .

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C H A P T E R 1 : GRAPHIC ORGANIZERS…A QUICK INTRODUCTION

LEAST COMPLEX MOST COMPLEX

TIME LINE, FLOW CHART, WORD WEB, RANKING LADDER, VENN DIAGRAM

Nouns

Verbs

Biotic

Abiotic

CAR

Living things

Plants

1 2 3

They push the analysis level of Bloom’s Taxonomy. For younger students theycan employ cutting and pasting or drawing pictures. See Example 1 below.

They can also be integrated easily into other Graphic Organizers. See Example 2below of an excerpt from a concept map on the Biosphere to sense how the Venn Diagram is integrated into a Concept Map.

Please see Chapter 11 for amore detailed application ofVenn Diagrams.

Example 1 Example 2

1 3

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G R A P H I C I N T E L L I G E N C E

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Fish Bone Diagram

The Fish Bone diagram (a process created by Kaoyu Ishikawa in Japan) is a graphicorganizer that facilitates the organizing of multiple key areas and the related components of each key area. The more the students can generate and classify data (the essence ofthinking inductively) the more powerful the Fish Bone. Fish Bone Diagrams encourage theanalysis level of Bloom’s Taxonomy. When students first start to apply them, the thinking is more at the recall and comprehension levels. See the example below.

In conversations with secondary teachers, they have told me that the Fish Bone diagram is a powerful structure for assisting students to organize their thinking for the writing process(Peacock, J. 2005). Given it easily allows other organizers such as Ranking Ladders, VennDiagrams and Time Lines to be integrated into the structure, it can be very useful forallowing students to more thoughtfully and thoroughly organize their thinking.

LEAST COMPLEX MOST COMPLEX

TIME LINE, FLOW CHART, WORD WEB, RANKING LADDER, VENN DIAGRAM, FISH BONE

Please see Chapter 12 for a more detailedapplication of Fish Bones.

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Thematic Maps

Thematic Maps are designed to have students structure their thinking around a theme. The theme provides meaning to the structure. It also provides a connection to art. Whendone effectively, Thematic Maps push analysis through classification or a clear flow of ideas such as in a Flow Chart. Given it employs images and colour (like a Mind Map) the hypothesis is that the Thematic Map would increase the chances students retaininformation. See the example below.

Importantly, all other types of graphic organizers presented in this book can be integratedinto a Thematic Map. That is why it is placed higher up on the complexity scale.

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C H A P T E R 1 : GRAPHIC ORGANIZERS…A QUICK INTRODUCTION

LEAST COMPLEX MOST COMPLEX

TIME LINE, FLOW CHART, WORD WEB, RANKING LADDER, VENN DIAGRAM, FISH BONE, THEMATIC MAP

Please see page 317 for another exampleof Thematic Maps.

1 5

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G R A P H I C I N T E L L I G E N C E

© B A R R I E B E N N E T T1 6

Cluster Maps

Cluster Maps are employed to have students classify the relevant information in a specificunit of study. Like Mind Maps, they start with the key idea in the middle. Cluster Mapsencourage the analysis level of Bloom’s Taxonomy. They can be linguistic or graphic or acombination of the two. Students usually prefer to use colour as a way of organizing thedifferent clusters. See the example below.

Cluster Maps (just like Thematic Maps, Mind Maps and Concept Maps) also work with othergraphic organizers woven into the process. This increases the Cluster Map’s power toimpact student thinking. As Cluster Maps become more complex, they will also have asense of order or hierarchical structure within each cluster.

LEAST COMPLEX MOST COMPLEX

TIME LINE, FLOW CHART, WORD WEB, RANKING LADDER, VENN DIAGRAM, FISH BONE, THEMATIC MAP, CLUSTER MAP

Please see pages319, 320, 321 for other examplesof Cluster Maps.

Page 17: Copyright © 2010 Pearson Canada Inc., Toronto, Ontario. · genres of questioning, effective group work, designing lessons, critical thinking, inquiry, role playing, inductive and

Mind Maps

Although forms of Mind Maps have been around for centuries, Tony Buzan (1993) wasresponsible for more thoroughly developing them for application in education. Mind Maps,when constructed correctly, push the analysis level of thinking and have a clear sense ofhierarchical structure. Colour and images along with key words form the essentialcomponents. See the example below.

Mind Maps also facilitate the integration of other graphic organizers. Once the Mind Map is complete some teachers have students do a Ranking Ladder of the key ideas in the Mind Map. Students have to provide criteria for their ranking of the ideas.

© B A R R I E B E N N E T T

C H A P T E R 1 : GRAPHIC ORGANIZERS…A QUICK INTRODUCTION

Please read Chapter 13 for a morein-depth analysis of Mind Maps.

LEAST COMPLEX MOST COMPLEX

TIME LINE, FLOW CHART, WORD WEB, RANKING LADDER, VENN DIAGRAM, FISH BONE, THEMATIC MAP, CLUSTER MAP, MIND MAP

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G R A P H I C I N T E L L I G E N C E

© B A R R I E B E N N E T T1 8

Concept Maps

Concept Maps are the most complex and potentially the most powerful for organizing one’sthinking. In terms of assessing students’ learning, few processes would be as thorough oncestudents become skilled users of this graphic organizer. They were started by Joseph Novak.

Concept Maps usually start at the top. That said, they can start from any part of the page.They are hierarchical and when done effectively may possibly have students applying alllevels of Bloom’s Taxonomy—no other graphic organizer has that potential withoutintegrating other graphic organizers. Concept Maps do not have to have colour or pictures.That said, in a conversation one of my graduate students had with Joseph Novak, he statedthat if he could re-think this organizer, he would have students use colour and images.Below is an example of a Concept Map completed by a grade three student using the graphicprogram Kidspiration.

Like Mind Maps, Concept Maps can also integrate other graphic organizers. On the following page is an example of a Mind Map and Concept Map merged,with a Venn Diagram “on the side”.

Go to Chapter 14 for a morein-depth analysis on ConceptMapping.

LEAST COMPLEX MOST COMPLEX

TIME LINE, FLOW CHART, WORD WEB, RANKING LADDER, VENN DIAGRAM, FISH BONE, THEMATIC MAP, CLUSTER MAP, MIND MAP, CONCEPT MAP

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An Example of a Mind Map and Concept Mapmerged…with a Venn Diagram emerging on the sidePlease note that this is a student’s first attempt at merging these graphic organizers. Imaginethe possibilities if the student had been playing with these for the previous four years.

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C H A P T E R 1 : GRAPHIC ORGANIZERS…A QUICK INTRODUCTION

Imagine what students maydo in secondary school ifthey continue to refine theseskills as they move upthrough the grades.

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G R A P H I C I N T E L L I G E N C E

© B A R R I E B E N N E T T2 0

Classification of Graphic Organizers According to UseGraphic organizers serve different purposes. Just like we select hammers, saws,screwdrivers etc., for specific tasks when building a house, we select graphic organizers tosupport different aspects of learning. One would not say that a hammer is more powerfulthan a saw unless the task was specified. For example, if the task is cutting wood, then thesaw is more powerful. That said, in building a house the integration of multiple tools isrequired to complete a task; likewise in learning—multiple organizers can be integrated tocomplete a unit of study.

That idea of integrating instructional innovations connects to curriculum expectations.Expectations encourage students to think and interact in certain ways and at differentlevels around a given topic of inquiry.

We can classify graphic organizers into different groups based on a variety of criteria. If thecriteria were Thinking Inductively, then the groups would be different than if they weregrouped based on the level of thinking they encouraged related to assessment. We can alsoclassify graphic organizers based on their use. The Fish Bone Diagram above summarizesone way of classifying graphic organizers. You may rank them differently than I did. The keypiece is to begin sensing their role and power to affect learning.

On each of the following pages is a single-page discussion of these classifications.

Concept Map

Classifying (only)

Memory Ease of Use Sequence

Mind MapFish Bone

Venn Diagram

Fish Bone

Mind MapCluster Map

Word WebMind Map

Fish BoneCluster Map

Venn Diagram

Ranking Ladder

Concept MapMind map

Thematic MapConcept Map

Word WebFlow Chart

Time Line

Mind MapTime Line

Ranking LadderFlow Chart

Concept Map

Least

Most

Classifying Graphic Organizers

Assessing Learning

Organizing Thinking for Writing

Least M

ost

Hard Easy

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Graphic Organizers Classified by FunctionGrouped to Encourage Inductive Thinking: Venn Diagrams, Fish Bone, Word Webs,Mind Maps, and Concept Maps all encourage students to think inductively—to classifyinformation based on specific criteria. That said, they also represent increasingly complexand powerful options.

The objectives below from Canadian and Australian Curriculum Documents illustrateexamples of where students are being asked to think inductively and where a teacher mightapply one of the inductive thinking Graphic Organizers. Note that other instructionalmethods can be employed to have students think inductively. The two strategies of ConceptAttainment (Jerome Bruner’s work) and Concept Formation (Hilda Taba’s work) are twoexamples. These are discussed later in this book and are also more intensely covered inChapters Eight and Nine in Beyond Monet (Bennett and Rolheiser, 2001) and in Models ofTeaching (Joyce, Weil and Calhoun, 2008).

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C H A P T E R 1 : GRAPHIC ORGANIZERS…A QUICK INTRODUCTION

Identifies, categorizes

and makes inferences

about visual texts

based on familiar

structures. (Perhaps

use Mind Maps

or Concept Maps)

Considers the interrelationships between texts, contexts,

speakers, and listeners. (Perhaps use a Venn

Diagram or Concept Map)

The student combines several ideas in a logical sequenece to write a small range of text types; recognizes the needs of particular audiences and purposes in writing. (Perhaps a Fishbone, Flow Chart merged)

Students will acquire the interrelationship of visual and performing arts and the relationships of the arts to other disciplines. (Perhaps a Venn Diagram)

Organize data, information and ideas into useful forms (including charts, graphs, outlines) for analysis or presentation.

Identify, analyze and

compare the

institutions, traditions,

and art forms of past

and present societies.

Connect the real experiences

of Canadians to information

about the causes and effects

of migration. (Fish Bone

Diagrams were designed to

show cause and effect

relationships – although they

can be used in a variety of

different ways.)

Compare population density and diversity in urban and rural communities; compare buildings and structures in urban and rural communities. (Venn Diagrams would be useful here.)

(From a district math document) Select a topic or use vocabulary associated with a topic and have students identify a central image or visual that represents the subject/topic being mapped. Individually or in groups have students brainstorm all the related themes orideas about the central topic. Students then identify graphics or visuals that go with these ideas and represent themradiating like branches from that central image – etc., (This is clearly telling teachers to encourage students to do a Mind Map.)

Use illustrations, key words, and simple sentences (e.g., timeline of major family events, simple family tree) to sort and classify, and record basic information about family history and traditions. They are suggesting the use of a Time Line).

2 1

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G R A P H I C I N T E L L I G E N C E

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Classifying Graphic Organizers continued …Grouped According to Assessing or Evaluating Student Learning: Clearly, all graphicorganizers can be employed to assess or evaluate student learning. The most complex andmost powerful graphic organizer, based on research, is Joseph Novak’s Concept Mapping (asstated earlier, this is based on the work of David Ausabel).

The reason is that the assessment or evaluation refers to students’ thinking at the analysislevel of Bloom’s Taxonomy—to explore relationships. If a more precise analysis is requiredwithin a larger analysis, then the students may also weave a Venn Diagram and/or a FishBone into the Concept Map. Below is an example of a Concept Map with two VennDiagrams; you can see the complexity of the student’s thinking.

If the assessment or evaluation is to illustrate sequence or time, then Flow Charts and TimeLines would be used respectively. Of course, if the objective requires students todemonstrate relationships (analysis) as it relates to time and sequence, then students wouldintegrate all three graphic organizers.

* See enlarged diagram in Appendix 5

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Classifying Graphic Organizers continued …Grouping Based on Ease of Use: If we want to quickly explore a number of concepts andhow they relate to initiate the writing process, then Word Webs would be useful. Why spend thetime doing Mind Maps? Mind Maps require colour and images. See the word web below.

That said, for some students, the Mind Map images are key to assisting students toremember what to write. They also may be more interesting to do and therefore moremotivating. In the example below, a grade one student did the Mind Map (first attempt).

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C H A P T E R 1 : GRAPHIC ORGANIZERS…A QUICK INTRODUCTION

You can seethis is veryclose to beinga Word Web.

2 3

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G R A P H I C I N T E L L I G E N C E

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Classifying Graphic Organizers continued …Grouping Based on the Writing Process: In discussions with teachers at all levels whoare routine and refined users of Graphic Organizers, Fish Bones and Concept Maps are themost powerful and efficient once students become routine or refined users of these GraphicOrganizers. Having students become refined users will be difficult if teachers do not thinkand act like a learning community; where they more thoughtfully and systemically havestudents develop their skill level as the students move up through the grades. Remember, all of these Graphic Organizers can be started in Kindergarten. Imagine how skilled studentscould be by the time they reach grade twelve. See the grade twelve example below—this is a third attempt. If they had done three each year since Kindergarten, it would be their 39th attempt!

Note: routine and refined/integrative users refers to the Levels of Use component of theConcerns Based Adoption Model by Hall and Hord…see Chapter 4.

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GraphicOrganizers

structures that organizethoughts to enhance

thinking

hundreds ofyears

VennDiagramscontinuum

least to mostcomplex

Muslims andChristians in

the 11thCentury

assessment

a shift from least powerfulto most powerful

integrated

powera

statisticalterm

meta-analysis

how much of an effect aninnovation has on student

learning

Bloom’sTaxonomy

Levels ofThinking

Types ofThinking

CurriculumOutcomes

Instructionalmethods

rememberingcomprehension

applicationanalysis

evaluationsynthesis

identifydescribecomparesequenceprioritizeinductivedeductive

inquiry

Timeline • Flow Chart • World Web • Ranking Ladder • Venn Diagram • Fish Bone • Thematic Map • Cluster Map • Mind Map • Concept Map

this also implies

e.g.

e.g.

used bywhich are

connect to

have beenaround for

can bedefined as

connect to

connect to

one genre of

can fit into

enactenact

enactedthrough

attend toattend to

examples are

components of

shifts from

can beplaced on a

relates to

relates to

can be

increases

usually used in

informs usabout

is

Below is a Concept Map of this Chapter

C H A P T E R 1 : GRAPHIC ORGANIZERS…A QUICK INTRODUCTION

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ChapterSummary

1

2 5