50 Uses of Graphic Organizers and Rubric

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Learn more about graphic organizers for assessment in our Online Courses, Online Certificate Programs, and Graduate Degree

How Does Visual Thinking and Visual Learning Help Students

Lesson Plans Using Concept Map Activities

Concept Maps in Science, Language Arts, and Social Studies

Rubric for Graphic Organizers

Teacher-Created Graphic Organizers

50 Uses of Graphic Organizers

Assist students in organizing information and key concepts
Assist teachers in planning lessons/units/themes
Illustrate the school's goals or plan for the Parent-Teacher Organization
Illustrate instructional goal links to testing expectations
To show what each grade will be teaching and how units fit into the larger picture of the curriculum for the whole school
Assess student learning
Show integration of different topics across the curriculum for a unit, lesson, or long-range plan
Present difficult material in a step by step manner
Plot summaries
Create cause/effect/solution diagrams to resolve social issues within the classroom
Book design elements
Illustrate the digestive system
Local government diagram
Defining new terms
Introducing a new concept
Note-taking organizer
Detailed processes (how to add polynomials etc.)
Creating a storyboard for a PowerPoint presentation
Comparison activities
Historical cause and effect
Cycles (recycle, weather, etc.)
To construct a food chain
Map of where items are stored in desk, trapper, or locker
Library orientation
Language Arts - character descriptions, plot movement, the action that leads to the climax
Math-to teach algorithms (especially division)
Math-problem solving because it is non-linear
Create instructions for games
Create picture charts that students can follow if they are communication impaired. Kids can follow picture symbols such as the symbols found on the Mayer-Johnson Boardmaker software.
Help study for a test.
Classroom organization chart with associated responsibilities
How to/step by step for learning new software
Developing a course, workshop or training session
Planning a WebQuest
Documenting job responsibilities
Planning a website
Personal professional goals
Concept maps to send home to parents to help explain a unit so they can help their children study/review
Assist cooperative groups in defining projects and dividing job responsibilities.
Faculty/district - responsibilities of committees
Flow charts for behavior plans for either the classroom or a specific student
Similarities between different units through the use of the same structure in the graphic organizer.
A tool for students to identify when they do not understand information and identify where the breakdown is in their comprehension.
To add more depth in a compare/contrast lesson, for example, identifying the important variables by color-coding or another visual element, and then deciding if the variable is the same or different in the two objects of study.
Showing relationships.
Procedures to follow during an emergency drill such as a fire or storm drill;
Lab procedure explanation
To present lab conclusions and highlight important concepts (especially prior to completing a written explanation)
In foreign language classes create an organizer that shows the English word on one side and the foreign language word equivalent on the other side with pictures as hints.
When studying a poem, in the center concept list the name of the poem and the connecting lines contain phrases from the poem. The subconcept explains the words in the phrase and the literary technique used such as personification.