Graphic Organizers

As a special education teacher I find graphic organizers an invaluable tool. All of my students have auditory processing difficulties and are strong visual learners. However, I think that all students benefit from visual aides as it said in the articles. My students with processing difficulties use organize to plan their writing and literally organize their thoughts. It gives them a mode to get the ideas, which are floating around, in their heads onto paper. One popular organizer is the KWL chart. “Teachers set the stage for learning by finding out what students already know, then connect new ideas to students' existing knowledge base.” However, I think KWL charts are often misused. Teachers ask students what they know and want to know. Many times teachers don’t address what the students want to know because they already have their objectives laid out. Some teachers also don’t go back and revisit the chart to see what students have learned. I think the most effective organizers are the most basic organizers. My favorite organizer to use is the 4 square