Graphic Organizer Station

I've said it before, but I'll say it again, I was NEVER a huge fan of graphic organizers. they just didn't work for my brain. Nonetheless, I completely recognize how they help students sort through the ideas going through their brains. Often in class we'll all do a graphic organizer together, but I also know some students who would like to use them more than others.

Thus, I introduce you to: My graphic organizer station.

Nothing fancy, I think I got the "File Purse" at Target and the manila files I scavenged from a teacher who was retiring.

Some of the graphic organizers are ones I've created myself (like the Venn Bow Tie) but a lot of them I got from Love Learning with Liana's store. It has eight different graphic organizers and they each made the cut!

Let's take a closer look at my station

Fancy tape = Decorating :P

1. Before anything else, admire my plant. It has been two weeks and it is still alive!!!

2. It has a quick note on what graphic organizers are and that they may be used any time a student thinks it will help. No fancy font, but I used some gold tape, so that counts as being decorative, right?

3. IMPORTANT It has a note about what to do when they take the last graphic organizer. They are to hand me the empty folder (or put it on my desk) so I can make more copies before the last class.

But how am I supposed to know what copies to make from a blank manila folder? I am glad you asked.

Labeled Tabs

Worksheets taped to the front

4.   In addition to the "title" of the graphic organizer written on the tab (yes I have the handwriting of a five year old boy), I also have the worksheet itself taped to the front of the folder. That way I know EXACTLY what worksheet I'll need to make copies of. This is important because I have several copies of slightly different graphic organizers. 

Compare and Contrast 1

For example you can see the I have three different compare and contrast worksheets. One (above) is just columns for the students who don't really like graphic organizers, but know they need to sort their thoughts.  To the left you can see I have the standard Venn Diagram (from Liana's packet). However, if you follow this blog at all, you'll know I am not a fan of Venn Diagrams, so I also have my Venn Bow Ties (below). 

Since these are all about what helps the student the most I provide all of these options and students can pick the one that works best for them.

Compare and Contrast 2

While the main idea of these worksheets is to help students help themselves, you can also use it as an easy way to differentiate a class. If you know one student struggles with finding the author's purpose, and you know that's a task they'll be doing in class, hand them a copy on their way into class (or while they are working). They'll appreciate it, and they'll be better equipped to answer the question when they get to it. 

Any graphic organizers I am missing?  Do you have a graphic organizer station in your class?

Looking to stock up on some organizers yourself?  You can grab my Venn Bow Tie for free here and Liana's are currently free (no idea how long that will last) here.

Alternative to Vemn Diagrams

Anyone who watches Dr. Who knows that bow ties are cool.

Well, here's a way to bring bow ties into your graphic organizers! Why you may ask?

Maybe you're perfectly content with Venn diagrams. That's awesome! I never was. I always felt they were very awkward and didn't give me enough space to express myself.

Check out this video for more on my hatred, and alternatives to the standard Venn Diagram, including the Venn Bow Tie... because Bow Ties are cool.





For anyone wondering why I am comparing Mean Girls and Julius Caesar, check out this post where my stduents make infographics exploring the similarities and differences between the movie and the play.

As promised in the YouTube description, if you go to Teachers Pay Teachers you can download a free worksheet with some sample pages. Try them out, and let me know what you think.

Most importantly, if you have other graphic organizers that you love, or if your students like the Venn Bow Tie, let me know :)

Ways to differentiate texts

I've seen a lot of discussion about differentiating texts for student readers, so I thought I'd write up a quick post about fiver easy ways to differentiate texts.

1.Chunk the text differently.
For this method you would still give all the students the same text, but where one student may have a text with questions at the end. Another student would have one question after each paragraph. This makes it easier for lower readers to process the information.

2. Give a graphic organizer
I am not going to lie. As a student I HATE graphic organizers. They don't work for me. I feel contained and held back However, as a teacher I LOVE THEM. Some students just work better when given boxes or lines. I tend to make my own, but you can find many free templates online. Eduplace for example has decent selection. I have a station students can go to and grab whatever handout they want for whatever activity we are doing.

3. Give help
If students are taking notes on a reading give lower level students guided notes, and higher level students no notes. Give lower level students sentence starters and higher level students the basic question.

4. Adapt the assignment for students.
I feel this is often what teachers do. Rather than changing the reading, they change the expectations. What I think is important here is to make sure that you aren't cheating lower level students out of an education. For example, higher level students may need to find ten new words, define them, draw a picture, and use them to tell a story. Whereas lower level students need to find ten new words, define them, draw a picture and make a unique sentence for each word. Telling a story is a higher level skill, but writing unique sentences will still help our struggling reader learn!

5. Make one version easier.

This is often a time consuming process. Basically give some students the text as is,, and other students the text with easier words or less complex sentences. Unless you know you will reuse an activity over and over, I wouldn't do this. Instead, use a site like https://newsela.com/ this site selects texts on popular current events and rewrites them at different levels. The content is the same, but you can divvy up the texts according to the strengths of your students!

There we are, five relatively painless ways to make it easier for your learners or a bit more challenging for those who need a push.