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49 Using Graphic Organizers

Page
243
from
Write Away

Using Graphics Organizers

Start-Up Activity

Bring a checker board and pieces to class and ask if anyone knows how to set up the pieces. Have a volunteer do so. Have students observe the pattern. Then provide chess pieces and ask for a volunteer to set those up. (If no students know how to do so, be ready to set them up yourself.) Let students view the board.

Afterward, share the analogy between board games and graphic organizers. To play a board game, you have to get organized. You must get all the pieces and set them up in the right way. To think carefully about a topic, you have to get organized, too. Graphic organizers are a way to get all the pieces of a topic set up in the right order.

Think About It

“Good order is the foundation of all things.”

—Edmund Burke

State Standards Covered in This Chapter

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.2.8

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.2.2

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RF.2.4

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RF.2.4.A

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.2.2

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.2.2

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.2.1

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.2.3

LAFS Covered in This Chapter

LAFS.2.W.3.8

LAFS.2.W.1.2

LAFS.2.RF.4.4

LAFS.2.RL.1.2

LAFS.2.RI.1.2

LAFS.2.W.1.1

LAFS.2.W.1.3

TEKS Covered in This Chapter

110.4.b.7

110.4.b.11.A

110.4.b.11.B

110.4.b.12.B

110.4.b.6

110.4.b.6.A

110.4.b.9.A

110.4.b.9.D

110.4.b.12

110.4.b.11

110.4.b.12.A

TEKS Covered in This Chapter

Page 244 from Write Away

Clustering

Clustering is brainstorming on paper. It helps students create non-linear thought webs, exploring ideas in a branching way.

Show students how to use the technique: Write a subject in the middle of the board and circle it (e.g., favorite games). Then take student suggestions about the subject and connect them in a web around the subject.

Afterward, let students try the technique. Tell them to write a favorite activity or animal in the middle of a piece of paper and circle it. Then have them write ideas connected to the central thought and connect them as well. Encourage them to keep clustering, making the ideas spread as far and wide as they can.

The very act of clustering can inspire students to think creatively about any topic, discovering possibilities.

State Standard Reference:
LAFS Standard:
LAFS.2.W.3.8
TEKS Standard:
110.4.b.7
NE ELA Standard:
LA 2.2.1.c, LA 2.2.2.b

Related Resource Tags

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Level:
Grade 2
21st Century Skills:
Creative Thinking

Page 245 from Write Away

Describing a Subject

A describing wheel helps students gather sensory details about a subject—sights, sounds, smells, tastes, and textures. Model how to use the graphic with a subject of your choice. For example, you could fill in sensory details about your classroom. Then have students create a describing wheel about a favorite place, food, or activity.

State Standard Reference:
LAFS Standard:
LAFS.2.W.1.2
TEKS Standard:
110.4.b.11.A, 110.4.b.11.B, 110.4.b.12.B
NE ELA Standard:
LA 2.2.2, LA 2.2.2.a, LA 2.2.2.b

Related Resource Tags

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Level:
Grade 2
Form:
Description
English Language Arts:
Writing

Page 246 from Write Away

Comparing Two Subjects

Lead students through the instructions for creating a Venn diagram using two overlapping circles. Then let students try comparing and contrasting with their own Venn diagrams. Give them two topics with some similarities and some differences, such as bikes and skateboards, or horses and cows. Have them find as many similarities and differences as they can, and then share their diagrams with each other.

You can also use the related minilesson to teach the use of Venn diagrams.

Related Minilesson:

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Level:
Grade 2
Form:
Comparison-Contrast
English Language Arts:
Writing

Page 247 from Write Away

Making a Story Map

A story map can help students keep track of the important events of a story. The arrows help keep the events in the correct order. Encourage students to create a story map while they read literature. Make sure they know that they can fill the bubbles with words and pictures. 

State Standard Reference:
LAFS Standard:
LAFS.2.RF.4.4
TEKS Standard:
110.4.b.6
NE ELA Standard:
LA 2.1.4

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Level:
Grade 2
21st Century Skills:
Reading
English Language Arts:
Reading

Page 248 from Write Away

Using a Line Diagram

Have a volunteer read the information about line diagrams. Explain to students how the sample diagram shows the topic in the top box and the reasons in the boxes below. Model how to create another line diagram, using the following topic: 

Branches of U.S. Government

  • Example 1: Legislative branch
  • Example 2: Executive branch
  • Example 3: Judicial branch

The next time your students have an explanatory or persuasive writing task, have them create a line diagram to gather supporting details for their topics.

Related Minilesson:
State Standard Reference:
LAFS Standard:
LAFS.2.W.1.1
TEKS Standard:
110.4.b.11.A, 110.4.b.11.B, 110.4.b.12
NE ELA Standard:
LA 2.2.2, LA 2.2.2.a, LA 2.2.2.b

Related Resource Tags

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Level:
Grade 2
English Language Arts:
Writing

Page 249 from Write Away

Using a Time Line

Students can use time lines to list events or steps in time order. Have them study the samples on page 249 and pages 337–345. Point out how each peg shows a new step or event in time order. As an activity, have students create a time line of five or six important events from their lives.

Related Minilesson:
State Standard Reference:
LAFS Standard:
LAFS.2.W.1.2
TEKS Standard:
110.4.b.11.A, 110.4.b.11.B, 110.4.b.12.B
NE ELA Standard:
LA 2.2.2, LA 2.2.2.a, LA 2.2.2.b

Related Resource Tags

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Level:
Grade 2
Form:
Narrative ParagraphProcess
English Language Arts:
Writing