Organizing Information

"Organizing Information" is a proven strategy that supports the varying learning styles in our classrooms. Charts, tables, maps, and webs activate our students' minds as they visually re-present course content. Graphic organizers help learners conceptualize new information while providing opportunities for evaluation and application of core concepts.

Students love to draw and fold, too. They like drawing circles and squares and folding paper into different shapes. Once the shapes are created, they seem to enjoy writing in spaces more than writing straight across the page.

Graphic organizers are one of the best ways to get students working with and processing information. There are many benefits to using graphic organizers: (1) they help students break down dense texts into smaller, more manageable parts; (2) they provide differentiated instruction for the various learning styles in the classroom; (3) they help students categorize and organize content knowledge, improving retention of critical concepts; and (4) they encourage students to re-present ideas in a visual way, stimulating the brain.

Take a few minutes to explore the different teaching and learning tools on this page. The "Literacy TA Process" and "School-wide" sections provide important details about how to teach the strategy. And the "Strategy Slides" can be used to learn more about "Organizing Information" and/ or to teach students about the strategy. Once you are familiar with the content, think about how you might use the different elements provided on this page to enhance literacy instruction.

Assessing the Skill

When assessing students' knowledge of graphic organizers, teachers could...

• ask students what types of organizers they have used in the past.
• ask them about the different organizers they have surely encountered across the disciplines like biology, earth science, algebra, and U.S. government.
• have students read a text and discuss which organizer would work best with the ideas in the text.
• display or project a number of organizers and have students name them or describe the purpose for each.

Assessing Content Knowledge

If we are going to invest time teaching reading strategies, we should have some idea of how the reading strategy is improving students' comprehension of a text. When assessing students' knowledge of the content, teachers could...

• develop a short series of multiple choice questions that assess students' knowledge of the content. The questions should focus on the reading purpose (or task).
• craft short answer prompts that ask students to articulate--in writing--their knowledge of the content. Short answer prompts should also focus on the reading purpose.
• engage students in a formal conversation like a Socratic seminar, assessing students' knowledge through verbal performance.
• assign a brief, one page paper that asks students to account for the name of the source, relevant source information, main ideas in the text, author's purpose, and his or her intended audience.

Developing a Reading Purpose

When teaching our students how to use graphic organizers, we should develop reading purposes or writing prompts that direct students to organize or categorize information. For example, students can use a Problem/ Solution graphic organizer if we assign a reading that uses problem and solution as a writing mode or structure. In the science classroom, students can use a three column chart if we ask students to identify three elements of a cycle. And in social science, students can use a Wh-Chart if they are asked to account for an event in history. Consider the writing prompt below.

Niesha Lofing, in her text “Facebook’s New Geotagging Ability Brings Potential for Abuse,” introduces the dangers of web-based global positioning systems. According to Lofing, what are the problems with geo-tagging? What are the potential risks of this type of cyber socializing? What solution does Lofing offer? What does Lofing hope her readers will do as a result of reading her article?

Since students are being asked to write about the problems with "geo-tagging" and account for the author's solutions, students should use a Problem/ Solution graphic organizer to help them keep track of information essential to the writing task.
 

Selecting a Text

Before selecting a text, teachers should read it carefully in order to see what it has to offer. Ultimately, we want to choose a text that lends itself well to the teaching of a particular strategy. In this case, we want to select texts that we can use to teach students how to utilize various graphic organizers. We want to select texts that offer common text structures like problem and solution, cause and effect, and compare and contrast. We should also look for structures that are sequential or chronological. Graphic organizers could also be used to simplify complex ideas or break concepts into smaller, more manageable parts. If we want out students to learn how to use graphic organizers strategically, they must be exposed to a wide range of organizers and have the opportunity to practice organizing and categorizing ideas that they read in texts.

Pacing and Supporting the Lesson

• Graphic organizers are most effective when students have an opportunity to use them once or twice a week or multiple times per unit.
• Graphic organizers should have a specific purpose and they should be used to assist students with their reading and writing tasks.
• Ask students to close out their graphic organizers. Once the organizer is complete, students can summarize, process, analyze, connect ideas within the organizer, or evaluate the information that they have gathered.
• Students experience higher levels of success with graphic organizers when they create their own. Therefore, students should draw the organizers that they are being asked to use or fold their papers into the desired shapes. 
• Use a document camera to explicitly show students how to create and complete graphic organizers.
• Allow students to work together and talk about their organizers.
• Walk around the classroom while students are reading, rereading, and working on their graphic organizers. Assist students who are struggling and refocus those who are distracted.
• Check-in often. Assess what they know and what they still need to learn.
• Collect students' organizers frequently and use the results to guide instruction.
• Students should use organizers all year with various types of texts.

Learning the Skill

When introducing "Organizing Information," consider the following approaches.

• Use the "Organizing Information" student handouts to help teach each different type of graphic organizer.
• Make copies of the student handouts as needed.
• Use a document camera or overhead projector to model how to effectively complete a graphic organizer.
• Show students how to make graphic organizers by folding paper into different shapes.
• Help students understand the thinking behind each of the graphic organizers.
• Teach one organizer at a time.
• Explain the importance of using graphic organizers. Students need to know how organizing information helps them process, learn, and retain ideas from text and lecture.
• Show students how to use the reading task and or writing prompt to help select the best organizer for the assignment.

Developing the Skill

When deepening students' understanding of the skill, consider the following approaches.

• Hand out a text and have students collaborate on which organizer they should use for the reading.
• Ask students to create a list of organizers for each content area. Creating this list will push students to analyze the types of reading they do in the different subjects. Knowing the types of texts and knowing something about how each text is structured will help students become stronger, more independent readers.
• Have students exchange organizers. They can peer-assess the organizers or they can simply learn from one another.
• Have students share their organizers with the students in the class. Using a document camera, students walk to the front of the room, place their organizer under the camera, and walk the class through his/ her work.
• Teach students how to use organizers to create ideas for writing and speaking.

Mastering the Skill

Mastery of any skill takes time, lots of practice, and a solid understanding of the strategy. Consider applying some of the following approaches when developing students' mastery of "Organizing Information."

• Ask students to independently use the strategy with little to no support.
• Ask students how they would use the skill in their other classes.
• Have students read a text independently. Then, have them explain which organizer would work best for the type of text they are reading.
• Teach students that organizers can be used to account for ideas as well as produce new ones.
• Teach students how to utilize this strategy when taking state and local exams.

School Wide

In order to make a strategy transferable through a department and across a school, the name of the strategy must stay the same and it must be implemented and talked about in the same way. Although reading purposes may change from class to class, unit to unit, the work behind a strategy must be predictable and consistent for our students. When a set of effective literacy strategies are implemented throughout the school day, students gain a deep knowledge of how to use the strategy, when to use it, and most importantly, why to use it. The goal for school-wide literacy, therefore, is to develop students' mastery of a select set of strategies so that they can independently and strategically employ them in rigorous academic and professional environments.

English Description

Graphic organizers work well in the English classroom. In this academic environment, students should use organizers to keep track of essential words, definitions, and ideas. In English, students are asked to summarize, compare, contrast, and evaluate ideas. Organizers can be used to help with this type of thinking.

Organizers can also be used for writing. While students read or listen to lecture, students can organize their thoughts in preparation for a writing task. Prewriting activities like concept webs, mind maps, and outlines are tools our students can use to organize and represent their thoughts.

Math Description

In mathematics, students can use graphic organizers to trace steps, organize terms and definitions, and record essential ideas and formulas from a unit or section in the textbook. Graphic organizers allow students to represent ideas in visual ways and help them process course content in ways that strengthens their ability to retain and apply the math they learn.

Science Description

In science, students must analyze, interpret, process, and apply ideas. Graphic organizers help students with this type of academic work. It is important to distinguish between a diagram that students label and an organizer that engages students in higher level thinking. Science teachers should develop organizers that ask students to process and apply new information from lecture, labs, or texts. As a result of organizing and categorizing course concepts, students begin to take ownership of the ideas, retaining critical concepts.

Social Science Description

Students are exposed to a wealth of ideas in history and social studies. The types of organizers that students use in the social science classroom should focus on teaching students how to account for essential information, analyzing that information, and applying it to other contents and contexts. Like in the English classroom, students in history are asked to identify relationships like cause and effect and problem and solution. Organizers can help students analyze and evaluate the critical concepts that make up the course.

Standardized Exams Description

While taking exams, students can utilize graphic organizers to keep track of information or to plan an essay. Students should read the questions or writing task prior to deciding which organizer to use. To do this well, our students need exposure to a wide range of organizers that do various kinds of work. As students master graphic organizers, they will be able to strategically select an organizer that works best for the reading or writing situation.