Graphic organizers are visual representations that help facilitate learning and promote comprehension. They can be used before, during, and after instruction to aid student understanding. The document discusses how graphic organizers were used in a reading of the book "Walk Two Moons" at different stages - a KWL chart before reading, concept maps during reading to compare stories, and a timeline after reading. Common Core standards for 5th grade literacy involving determining themes, comparing characters and events, and analyzing point of view are also listed.

1. By: Kristin Schrader
Summer B 2013
EEX4066-Dr. Pratt-Marrett

2.  Graphic organizers are visual depictions of
ideas/concepts and relationships between facts, etc.
 Facilitates learning and promotes comprehension.
 Examples: Concept maps, knowledge maps, venn
diagrams, cognitive organizers

3.  It is not easy to pinpoint exactly who invented this
concept.
 In 1992, a man named Jay McTighe wrote the book
Graphic Organizers: Collaborative Links to Better
Thinking. In the book he explained the three ways
teachers can use graphic organizers to aid in learning:
-Before Instruction
-During Instruction
-After Instruction

4.  I really like the use of graphic organizers for reading. A great example is
the whole class reading reading of the book “Walk Two Moons” by
Sharon Creech.
 Before reading: Create a KWL
(http://www.readwritethink.org/classroom-resources/printouts/chart-
a-30226.html chart.
 During reading: Use Connections Think Marks
(http://www.bigthought.org/Portals/BT/2011TM_SummerCurriculum/1
st/excellent-book-of-graphic-organizers.pdf page 17). Venn Diagram to
compare the two “stories” within the book.
 After reading: Complete KWL Chart and draw the Movie in my Mind
Strips in chronological order
(http://www.bigthought.org/Portals/BT/2011TM_SummerCurriculum/1
st/excellent-book-of-graphic-organizers.pdf page 50)

5.  Common Core Standards for 5th Grade
- CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.5.2 Determine a theme of a story, drama, or
poem from details in the text, including how characters in a story or
drama respond to challenges or how the speaker in a poem reflects
upon a topic; summarize the text.
- CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.5.3 Compare and contrast two or more
characters, settings, or events in a story or drama, drawing on specific
details in the text (e.g., how characters interact).
- CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.5.6 Describe how a narrator’s or speaker’s point
of view influences how events are described.
- CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.5.10 By the end of the year, read and
comprehend literature, including stories, dramas, and poetry, at the
high end of the grades 4–5 text complexity band independently and
proficiently.

6.  Instructional Strategies Online. (2009.) Retrieved
from
http://olc.spsd.sk.ca/DE/PD/instr/strats/graphicorgan
izers/index.html.
 ReadWriteThink. (2013.) Retrieved from
http://www.readwritethink.org/classroom-
resources/printouts/chart-a-30226.html.
 Unknown, Author. (2013.) Retrieved from
http://www.bigthought.org/Portals/BT/2011TM_Sum
merCurriculum/1st/excellent-book-of-graphic-
organizers.pdf.