ABSTRACT
Graphic organizers are great for helping students activate prior learning, plan upcoming projects or writing, or organize information they have learned. Graphic organizers in which students compare/contrast in order to show how elements support themes have students work at the Analyze level, while graphic organizers that help students to consider information and evidence in order to make and justify a decisions represent the Evaluate level. In Science, students might use graphic organizers to compare/contrast concepts, to plan and execute experiments, and to develop questions for case studies. Graphic organizers can be used to brainstorm vocabulary words that might be associated with specific tasks or events, to show knowledge of another culture, or to sequence events in another culture's history. Previous data on both standardized assessments and district-level benchmarks indicate that students traditionally struggle both with essay organization and with persuasive essays.
