graphic organizer 5 paragraph essay free

Five Paragraph Essay Graphic Organizer

Take notes in preparation for writing a five paragraph expository essay using this five paragraph essay graphic organizer.

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Free Editable Essay Graphic Organizer Examples

Essays are complex and large write-ups that are not easy to intercept. That’s why it is better to use an essay graphic organizer to visualize your complex structured outline in a simple manner. In fact, there is nothing better than some free graphic organizer examples that save both your time and effort. So, let’s have an overview of this essay organizers and free example templates.

1. What is Essay Graphic Organizer

An essay graphic organizer enhances your research with visual elements. It helps the writer to correlate facts, observations, and notions. On top of that, it outlines the essay and provides an organized strategy for the writer.

A graphic organizer for writing helps the writers to tackle hard and long essay formats. A writer can use its visual aid to complete the write-up step by step. A graphic organizer for essays has different types based on primary functions.

• An Outline Based Essay Organizer

These types of essay organizers have at least 3 thesis. The whole story revolves around these. Moreover, the organizer includes specific supporting details and subtopic names that make the way crystal clear for writers. However, these organizers do not need much essay explanation. Most indications are worldly phrases that direct the attention toward thoughts and observations.

• A Contrasting Essay Organizer :

As the name indicates, it helps the writer to organize varying thoughts about topics and compare them. Moreover, it helps the writer to collect, conceive and portray the information ahead of time. The writer can use it for two collective primary topics or a single point from both topics. In both cases, the essay organizer will help them take visual notes and use them to their advantage while writing.

• Organizer For A Persuasive Essay :

The persuasive essay organizer helps the writer to persuade an audience toward a single topic. It includes three or more supporting details for the topic. Furthermore, the organizer includes written evidence for those details that help prove the point.

2. The Essay Graphic Organizer Examples

Using an essay graphic organizer for writing brings credibility and flexibility to your essays with extensive research. Essay writing is a tough job, especially if it has more than one subtopic.

Essays require tons of details. All that quality is up to no good if it is not organized and well structured. An essay organizer for writing helps you understand how the minor details contribute to overall concepts. With thorough research and long formats, essay writing may become dull. However, an organizer helps you to perfectly structure your thoughts with appealing visuals that make them engaging and far less challenging.

Basic 5-Paragraph Essay Graphic Organzier

5-Paragraph Essay

Expository Essay Graphic Organizer

Persuasive Essay Graphic Organizer

Essay Graphic Organzier

Narrative Essay Graphic Organizer

Example 1: 5 Paragraph Essay Graphic Organzier

The most common type of essay writing format is a 5-paragraph essay. Essay graphic organizer for writing helps organize all those 5 paragraphs and insert valuable information inside them. It includes the first paragraph section in which the writer inserts the topic sentence and at least three thesis statements. The upcoming three paragraphs briefly summarize those statements and provide at least three pieces of evidence for each thesis. Finally, the last paragraph repeats the main statement and includes an overall concluding statement. Moreover, every thesis detail includes a conclusion statement that conceives the entire concept.

Example 2: Printable 5 Paragraph Essay Graphic Organizer

It is also the type of essay organizer writers use to organize the outline of a 5-paragraph essay format. Its first paragraph is of introduction which includes with a thesis statement instead of a topic sentence. The statement inside the paragraph includes three supporting examples with itself. Moreover, the second paragraph has a topic sentence that the previous thesis supports. Plus, it has individual evidence details that prove the topic sentence true. The third paragraph includes a thesis statement that correlates with the previous and upcoming topic sentence. Finally, the last paragraph has the essay's main idea and a concluding statement that proves the point.

Example 3: Argumentative Essay Graphic Organizer

This template solemnly deals with the expository template of the essay. It focuses on the essay's three most basic parts: the introduction, body, and conclusion. Moreover, the writer evaluates the selected topic in it with examples and evidence and closes the argument clearly and concisely. The exemplary diagram includes 2 separate boxes in the introduction sections. One of them is for the hook that engages the audience, whereas the other depicts the essay's main idea. Inside the body section, the writer briefly lists three examples, each with individual supporting details. Finally, the conclusion includes two sections; one for reviewing and rewriting the central concept and the other to input the closing details of the essay.

Example 4: Persuasive Essay Graphic Organizer

This example diagram of the essay graphic organizer for writing helps to persuade a general or specific audience toward your point of view. The primary purpose is to enlist your opinion and evaluate it with the help of numerous supporting details. As for the organizer, it is for a 5 paragraph format. The first one has an engaging beginning, a summary of the issue, and your opinion. Furthermore, the next 3 provide different reasons that support your opinion. Moreover, the section also includes evidence in the form of examples and textual details that support every reason individually. The last paragraph is a conclusive one that restates the opinion, summarizes all three reasons again, and gives a CTA (call to action) at the end. However, you can ditch the CTA and add a simple closing statement that supports your opinion.

Example 5: Informational Essay Graphic Organizer

This type of organizer is for essays having more than one main idea. The organizer's interface has several colors that make it engaging and appealing. Due to the color, it is referred to as a Rainbow essay organizer. A big individual box includes the whole organized outline of the essay. The writer has to briefly write all three ideas in it and support their point of view. Moreover, the organizer includes an introduction and conclusion description. At last, there is a final draft section that concludes the whole essay and supports either all three or one suitable main idea.

Example 6: Narrative Essay Graphic Organizer

The expository essay is a genre that requires the student to investigate an idea, evaluate evidence, expound on the idea, and set forth an argument concerning that idea clearly and concisely. The below expository essay web diagram is created using EdrawMax Online and shows blank spaces for Thesis Statement, Example 1, Example 2, Example 3, Details about all the examples, and argumentative points. Expository writing gives facts and information about a topic, and as the web diagram suggests, a good expository essay introduces the main idea and develops it with facts and supporting details.

3. How to Make an Essay Graphic Organizer

Graphic organizers are the modern way of learning. With passing time, people are using them in every type of write-up. Therefore, it is better to understand its production process so that you can make one specifically for your essay. The online production software uses four simple steps to generate a graphic organizer for essays.

Step 1 - Head on to EdrawMax Online or download EdrawMax . Make an account and log in to it.

Step 2 - Once inside, you can start creating the graphic organizer on a blank edit sheet or readymade essay organizers, such as mindmaps and spider maps. However, this process is time-consuming. If you want an easy solution, head to the main menu on the left, look for Templates Community , and click on it.

Step 3 - Clicking on the Template Community option will take you to a social network of designers and a general audience like you that post templates daily for public use. You can search for your very own template and duplicate it onto your sheet using the button Duplicate.

Step 4 - Finally, start customizing it as you like. You can change the font, color, and components. Moreover, you can add new ones if you like. Once you are done and satisfied, export and share your template with others using the Button Publish present on the top right corner.

4. Online Graphic Organizer Maker

Traditional ways are gone when you had to work extensively for a simple diagram in lining software. Online graphic organizers like EdrawMax made graphic organizer designing much easier and less time-consuming. All thanks to its easy-to-use interface and basic yet helpful tool kits, designing a diagram is possible for every individual with basic knowledge.

Moreover, EdrawMax saves a lot of effort and time with the help of readymade templates. This online graphic organizer maker is suitable for any type of consumer to generate any variation of the graphic organizer. Its biggest pro is the Templates Community , with thousands of readymade templates for users. In this social biome, you can not only pick the one that suits you well but share your ideas with the community as well.

5. Key Takeaways

The visual aid of essay graphic organizers helps the writers to organize their researched facts and general thoughts according to references. Moreover, it gives a direction to the audience and the writer for the essay. As for its usage, the writers are helping themselves with it in their professional careers. Moreover, it proves exponentially efficient in the academic field for students. When it comes to essay writing, it helps in both of these by establishing a relevant and valid connection. Plus, communicating our thoughts with visual sketches and doodles is less boring and more engaging.

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How to Use Graphic Organizers to Write Better Essays

Lucid Content

Reading time: about 6 min

If you’re a student, there’s no way around the inevitable: You’re going to have to write essays. Lots of essays. In fact, the five-paragraph essay is so fundamental to the high school curriculum that it’s still used on the ACTs, and knowing how to recognize the organizational structure of essays will help you score higher on the SATs.

Even though it seems like a chore, knowing how to organize and write an essay can have a lasting effect on your life, from getting into a better college to scoring a better job to performing better in that job long after your high school days are over.

Here’s a secret: Using graphic organizers for writing essays can help you write better essays faster. (And don’t count yourself out if you’re an educator—you can offer these tools to help your students succeed.) We’ll show you exactly how to do it.

Why use graphic organizers

When ACT graders or teachers are looking your essay, they’re looking for very specific criteria; essentially, they’re looking at how well you’ve organized your thoughts. Many students don’t take the time to outline their essay structure before writing, and that always means a lower score on a test and a lower grade on the essay in class.

Using a writing template can feel like an unnecessary step in an already complicated process. If you need extra motivation to implement these organizers into your writing routine, consider all of their benefits. Graphic organizers can help you:

• Save time by showing you where each piece of the essay “lives.”
• Have more productive brainstorming sessions, either by yourself or with a group.
• Make connections between ideas and create a more cohesive argument.
• Pinpoint holes in your arguments and either adjust the thesis or find supporting statements.
• Keep track of your research.
• Organize your thoughts and come to interesting, more compelling conclusions.
• Stay in the right direction when you feel lost in a sea of words.
• Manage anxiety by converting the fear of a blank assignment into an action plan with a clear map.

With all those benefits, it’s hard to ignore how useful and vital graphic organizers are to writing. And once you’ve become adept at organizing your thoughts for something like a school essay, you’ll find that skill carries with you throughout your life, whether you’re trying to become a more intelligent debater to negotiate prices. It goes beyond just the essay to becoming a better thinker. And it starts with a simple template.

We’ll walk you through several use cases for graphic organizers and provide templates for you to download and fill in when you’re ready to write.

Brainstorming graphic organizers

Brainstorming is important, not only to come up with ideas for topics but to determine what information you need to include in the essay once you’ve determined your topic. Though many think of brainstorming as just freeflow thinking, brainstorming is most productive when you work within specific parameters.

That’s why essay brainstorming graphic organizers are useful, whether you’re using one to brainstorm on your own or you’re working with a group.

In Lucidchart, our mind map shapes and templates double as brainstorming graphic organizers. Start with an essay prompt as your central shape and then fill in the shapes that branch off your prompt with topic ideas. Alternatively, you can add your selected topic to the center and start brainstorming the different ideas you need to cover in your paper.

When the template is filled in, you’ll have a clear starting point for your essay or research paper.

Research paper graphic organizers

Nothing paralyzes students with fear quite like a research paper. These long-form papers require—as the name implies—quite a bit of research, and their purpose is to teach students how to look for valid sources to support their arguments.

But keeping track of all those sources and tying them into your argument can be tricky. That’s where a research paper graphic organizer can be a student’s greatest ally.

This template lays out the writing process itself. After you come up with a general topic, like “the disappearance of honey bees,” fill in the “Research Paper Topic” box.

Then, start looking for reputable sources (Wikipedia doesn’t count) and use the five sources boxes to hold the most relevant quotes and statistics you find. Using those quotes and statistics, you can then fill out a thesis statement that is supported by the research.

Then, you’ll be able to focus your paragraphs on a single topic each that supports the thesis statement and your overarching argument. After you’ve filled out the template, the backbone of the research paper is complete: All that’s left to do is fill in the spaces between sources and arguments.

5-paragraph essay graphic organizer

When it comes to writing the five-paragraph essay, writing diagrams are key. By using graphic organizers for writing, you’re no longer staring at a giant blank piece of paper with no idea how or where to begin. Your graphic organizer is your map.

Although using writing diagrams may seem time-consuming, the fact is that taking the time to fill a graphic organizer in before writing actually saves time. If there’s a problem with the argument, it will show up on the diagram, or if there’s not enough evidence to support your argument, you’ll know before you’ve wasted time writing the paper. And, as we said before, even if your writing is terrible, if your argument is sound, you’ll still score a decent grade.

Try this 5-paragraph essay template to get you started.

Don’t feel pressured to come up with a compelling title right away. Instead, it’s more important that you come up with a thesis statement that can be supported by three solid arguments. Fill in that thesis statement and your arguments. Then, for each argument, figure out three supporting details to support your case.

That’s it! You’ve got the most essential parts of your 5-paragraph essay completed.

Now, come up with an introduction that sets the stage for your argument and a conclusion that wraps up and restates your thesis and supporting arguments in a compelling way. Now you have a solid plan for your paper and can approach it with confidence.

If you’d like a more linear graphic that exactly follows the structure of the 5-paragraph, use the writing template below and follow the same process.

Visuals, such as graphic organizers for writing, can help you better understand concepts, think creatively, and collaborate with your classmates—and there are plenty of other templates where these came from.

Lucidchart offers hundreds of templates to help you through your studies, including timelines, Venn diagrams, word maps, and more. Sign up for Lucidchart and upgrade to an Educational account for free.

Resources for teachers

Providing graphic resources to students is essential; after all, many of your students will be visual learners, so while you may beautifully explain how the process works, there will be some who won’t understand until they see a template of the essay itself.

Lucidchart has many resources for teachers, from lesson plans to writing templates. While you’re teaching your students how to write essays or research papers, it’s useful to print out the templates and fill them out together (even using a completed template as a separate assignment with a separate grade) so that your students can get a feel for properly filling out graphic organizers before attempting it on their own.

Lucidchart, a cloud-based intelligent diagramming application, is a core component of Lucid Software's Visual Collaboration Suite. This intuitive, cloud-based solution empowers teams to collaborate in real-time to build flowcharts, mockups, UML diagrams, customer journey maps, and more. Lucidchart propels teams forward to build the future faster. Lucid is proud to serve top businesses around the world, including customers such as Google, GE, and NBC Universal, and 99% of the Fortune 500. Lucid partners with industry leaders, including Google, Atlassian, and Microsoft. Since its founding, Lucid has received numerous awards for its products, business, and workplace culture. For more information, visit lucidchart.com.

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Check out how Annika, a recent English graduate of the University of Michigan, used mind mapping in Lucidchart to develop her honors thesis.

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5 Paragraph Essay Graphic Organizers

I will never forget the teacher that taught me how to successfully write a 5-paragraph essay. Her name was Mrs. Wingfield. That one skill has served me well through high school and college. It is a skill that many underestimate. For that reason, I am very mindful to teach it to my students and my children. Our 5 Paragraph Essay Graphic Organizers make teaching how to write a 5-paragraph paper that much easier! 

Before teaching a 5 paragraph essay we always start with more  elementary writing including using the  Hamburger Paragraph Graphic Organizer . Be sure to check it out!

*You might be interested in purchasing our entire  Writing Paragraphs Bundle  which is perfect for those looking to teach students how to write paragraphs and then 5-paragraph essays! Take a look!

As a Christian Book and Amazon Associate, we may earn commissions from qualifying purchases. Thank you for your support. As always, we only recommend items that we truly feel will benefit your homeschooling experience. We appreciate it.

What is a 5 Paragraph Essay?

A 5-paragraph essay contains within it an opening paragraph, 3 body paragraphs, and a conclusion paragraph. Within the paragraphs themselves, there is a topic sentence, 3 supporting sentences, and a concluding sentence. 5-paragraph essays are typically used when writing middle school and high school papers. Whether it be a book report, biography project, or an essay on the Civil War, being able to write a comprehensive and organized paper is paramount to becoming a successful student. 

Why 5 Paragraph Essay Graphic Organizers?

Graphic Organizers are students’ best friend. They make organizing facts, examples, and details manageable. For students who struggle with processing information, graphic organizers give them a visual sorting sheet. We have found the 5 paragraph essay graphic organizers helpful while completing our  Country Research Projects  or Biography Research Project. My students have used similar organizers when writing their planet papers. Whenever your student is required to write an essay or paper, these graphic organizers can help direct their writing. 

How do I use them?

There are three different versions to choose from. All three focus on a student organizing 5 paragraphs with each paragraph containing a topic sentence, 3 body sentences, and a concluding sentence. Visually, one may be more appealing to you. My students are encouraged to use one of these before writing their rough draft. For my more advanced writers, they have used one of these to organize their paper and then typed their final papers out on the computer with minimal corrections. These graphic organizers are particularly helpful to those students who struggle processing information. You may offer it to all your students but require it of some. 

BONUS 5 Paragraph PRINTABLES

We offer essay writing sheets with an illustration page too. These extras make it easy for a teacher to assign a project on a variety of different topics using only these printables. 

DOWNLOAD 5 PARAGRAPH ESSAY GRAPHIC ORGANIZERS

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Free Graphic Organizer Templates

Help your students classify ideas and communicate more effectively with these free graphic organizer templates, available for download. They can be used to structure writing projects and help in problem solving, decision making, studying, planning research, and brainstorming.

Printable Graphic Organizers

Select a blank graphic organizer from the following categories depending on your curriculum needs.

Sequence of Events

• Step-by-Step Chart
• Sequence Chart
• Time-Order Chart

Main Topic and Key Details

• Garden Gate
• Describing Wheel
• Cluster/Word Web 1
• Cluster/Word Web 2
• Cluster/Word Web 3
• Ticktacktoe
• Four-Column Chart
• Inverted Triangle
• Persuasion Map
• Ice Cream Cone

Compare/Contrast

• Venn Diagram

Story Planning

• Story Map 1
• Story Map 2
• Story Map 3
• Planning Chart

Other Graphic Organizers

• Sense Chart
• Problem/Solution Chart
• ISP Chart (Information, Sources, Page)
• Fact and Opinion
• Five W's Chart
• Goal-Reasons Web
• Observation Chart

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Teaching the Five-Paragraph Essay Resource Packet

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Free Worksheets and More Since 2001

Category: Graphic Organizers

Over 100 free, printable graphic organizers for a wide variety of topics.

Four Column Chart

This form with four columns and seven rows can be used for a variety of note taking and sequencing tasks. You may also like… Three Column Chart Two Column Chart Tips on Using Graphic Organizers Part 2 Blank 2 Column...

Posted in: Graphic Organizers

Three Column Chart

This form can be used for a KWL chart, sequencing events, cause/effect… You may also like… Four Column Chart Two Column Chart Blank 2 Column Notes Form Blank 4 Column Notes Form

Two Column Chart

This form can be used for Cornell notes, cause and effect, a flowchart and more. You may also like… Blank 2 Column Notes Form Three Column Chart Four Column Chart Blank 3 Column Notes Form

Character Details Organizer

Keep track of the characters in the story using this character organizer. In each row you’ll write the character’s name, a physical description, personality type/qualities, role in the story, and an important quotation. There is space on the first page...

Blank 4 Column Notes Form

There are many uses for this four-column form – Analyze a story in four parts (exposition, rising action, climax, falling action), four parts to a process, four character descriptions, or take notes from general to specific. You may also like…...

Four Paragraph Essay Outline

This outline provides a framework for the 4-paragraph essay. Each part of the introduction, body paragraphs, and conclusion is represented. After completing this worksheet, students will be prepared write the rough draft and begin refining the language. You may also...

Three Paragraph Essay Outline

This outline provides a framework for the 3-paragraph essay. Each part of the introduction, body paragraph, and conclusion is represented. After completing this worksheet, students will be prepared write the rough draft and begin refining the language. You may also...

Vocabulary Boxes

This vocabulary study graphic organizer has space to write the word, the part of speech, the definition, a sentence using the word and a simple illustration to help remember the meaning. You may also like… Vocabulary Word Definition Form Vocabulary...

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Persuasion Map

About this printout

Use this graphic organizer to develop a persuasive stance for an essay, speech, poster, or any type of assignment that incorporates persuasion.

Teaching with this printout

More ideas to try, related resources.

Examples of persuasion surround our lives, and the ability to persuade others is a powerful asset. We can persuade people to act in our favor, help them to see our point of view, and sway their opinion to that of our own. The power of persuasion is far reaching, and it is a technique that students will use throughout their lives. This tool helps students formulate ideas for a persuasive argument by helping them determine their goal or thesis, identify three reasons to support it (with three facts or examples to support each reason), and restate the thesis in a conclusion statement. Before your students use this tool independently, model its use for them. Choose a simple topic (such as, “Sixth Grade is the Best Grade” or “Why Our Lunch Period Should be Longer”). Then, fill in the Persuasion Map while discussing the process  aloud, displaying the tool so that all students can see it. Review students’ completed maps prior to having them continue with the persuasion assignment. This will provide you with an opportunity to check students’ understanding of persuasion and help those who need extra instruction.

• Have students analyze a persuasive piece (for example, an advertisement or editorial in a newspaper or magazine) by filling in the map and discussing the authors’ strategies of persuasion.
• Encourage older students to create propaganda-based assignments by having them incorporate deceptive language in some of the “reasons” or “examples” on their maps. (Propaganda is a form of persuasion that uses deceptive language to exaggerate, distort, or conceal information.) Upon completion, have students read their maps orally and/or display them for their peers. Have students identify the deceptive language in their peers’ maps to create a class list of the examples used. As an additional follow-up, students can view and read advertisements, newspaper editorials, and other text that contain propaganda to search for use of the examples on the class list and to add additional ones.
• Have students complete two maps based on the same goal but with two different targeted audiences in mind. Attention to audience is an essential element of effective persuasion. For example, students might create maps to market a particular children’s toy; one map could target children as the audience, and the other could focus on parents as the audience. After they have completed their maps, have students read them to the class without identifying the intended audience. Ask the rest of the class to determine the intended audience and identify the specific clues that prompted their deductions. Finally, as a class, compare and contrast the language and words used for each intended audience.
• Lesson Plans
• Student Interactives
• Strategy Guides

Through a classroom game and resource handouts, students learn about the techniques used in persuasive oral arguments and apply them to independent persuasive writing activities.

The Persuasion Map is an interactive graphic organizer that enables students to map out their arguments for a persuasive essay or debate.

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5 Paragraph Essay Outline Template

Use this template to create a 5 paragraph essay outline. Your students can fill out the sections of the graphic organizer with their planned introduction, thesis statement, supporting paragraphs and counterarguments, and conclusion.

Classroom Q&A

With larry ferlazzo.

In this EdWeek blog, an experiment in knowledge-gathering, Ferlazzo will address readers’ questions on classroom management, ELL instruction, lesson planning, and other issues facing teachers. Send your questions to [email protected]. Read more from this blog.

4 Effective Instructional Strategies That Work for Math, Writing, and More

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What teacher isn’t on the lookout for new and effective instructional strategies?

In this multipart series, educators will share their “nominations” for those teaching strategies that can be effective in all content areas.

My personal choice is inductive teaching, which you can learn more about here .

Here are what today’s guests suggest ...

‘Thinking Routines’

Abeer Ramadan-Shinnawi, M.Ed., is a veteran social studies educator, school leader, teacher coach, and now program director for Re-Imagining Migration. She is also an educational consultant that focuses on the needs of Arab and Muslim youth:

Tapping into students’ social-emotional learning can be a difficult task when creating lessons. Many times teachers have created a lesson that is very engaging, crosses all the checks for a high-level lesson, but then falls short of knowing how to tie all of the learning together. That is not uncommon for educators, especially when they are always looking for new ways to engage their students.

One instructional strategy that has saved me a lot of time and effort that I have used and still use today that can be applied across multiple content areas is Harvard’s Project Zero Thinking Routines . These routines are backed by research, can be used across multiple content areas, and create depth to any classroom activity along with creating space for students to focus on their emotions to provide navigation into a discussed topic. The Thinking Routines are divided into types of thinking categories, which makes finding the right type of routine to fit your activity easy to manage. The Thinking Routines can be used in a group setting, individual work, or as an exit ticket. There is no limit as to how to implement the various routines, but here are two of the best that I would recommend:

1. The 3 Whys - This routine helps center the topic into the student’s world. Students, especially younger students may have a difficult time connecting with the content so using this routine would allow students to dig deep to find the connection. The 3 Whys are: Why might this [topic, question] matter to me? Why might it matter to people around me [family, friends, city, nation]? Why might it matter to the world?

2. See-Feel-Think-Wonder - Social-emotional learning can take place in many forms. Using this routine will help students build the bridge of empathy but also understanding why curiosity is important to learning. This routine has students break down their own perceptions from what is being taught and also allows them space to ponder other feelings, ideas, or thoughts that may surface. It also uses the following as a strategy to reach that depth in a student’s own understanding: See What do you see? Feel What feelings emerge for you as you look at this piece? Think What does this piece make you think about? Wonder What do you wonder about this piece?

These are just two of the many routines that can be utilized in many classrooms across many contents. As an educator, my advice would be to find a few routines that you enjoy teaching, perfect them, then move on to more. There is no shortage of finding an engaging method to help your students learn, so why not work smarter and not harder by using Project Zero Thinking Routines into your next class session.

Graphic Organizers

After teaching English for over 20 years, Donna L. Shrum is now teaching ancient history to freshmen in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia. She remains active in the Shenandoah Valley Writing Project and freelance writing for education and history magazines:

Envision a small stone cottage from 16th-century France tucked away in the corner of a field with bees buzzing the lavender at the door. You walk inside and bemoan all the cleaning and the stones that have tumbled to the ground, letting in chinks of light.

With some sturdy scaffolding, you build it back to serviceability, leading to many lazy afternoons in the pleasure of its company. This is how I see the learning of my freshmen students arriving at my door after the wreckage of middle school. I call them my “COVID babies.” The cliche “learning loss” irritates me because they didn’t lose learning. They couldn’t lose something they never had. Like the cottage, they have gaps to fill and rooms to sweep, but the prior years haven’t been a total loss, and this year has been one for repairs. Having taught English for over 20 years before returning to history, I know the power of graphic organizers and that they can be used in every subject area (yes, math, even you).

The lovely thing about all types of graphic organizers is that they are freely available all over the internet. Our county has focused on writing across the curriculum this year. For years, I have remediated students who are struggling with writing, even up until their graduation day. The special education teachers in my early years confirmed graphic organizers are life rafts for students. These days, we need to use all the wisdom we can get from the special ed. teachers to help our struggling students.

To incorporate writing into my history curriculum, I provided graphic organizers at every step. When the time came to write an essay, I handed out a graphic organizer with more than five areas to fill because I never want students to think the five-paragraph essay is a natural, organic entity. Above each area of the organizer was a guiding question they could answer to formulate the paragraph. A 2020 study shows that doing it by hand rather than on the keyboard will light up more neurons (Askvik, van der Weel, van der Meer), so this organizer was on paper. (One caveat is to tell them to photograph the organizer at the end of each workshop because my “COVID babies” lost papers like the little flower girl leading the wedding procession.)

Some students freely wrote with a glance at the organizer and some organized on the computer. The majority used the organizer and were surprised at how easy it was to express their thoughts when they organized them. They had told me that eliminating accountability for state writing tests in middle school had led to less writing instruction, which I’d expected, so the last time they’d made a concerted effort to organize essay-length writing was in elementary school.

As the semester ends, and I look back with utter mental exhaustion, as always, I question if everything I’ve done is meaningful and helpful. Last week, I met a parent for an IEP meeting who said, “I’ve been letting my daughter’s English teacher for next semester know that the graphic organizers you provided for writing the essays in history class made her successful for the first time in writing an essay.” This easily provided scaffolding made all the difference.

In high school, we may sometimes regard graphic organizers as too basic or something they’ve shed on their path to high school and no longer need. Especially since they’ve emerged from the recent academic tunnel, graphic organizers are the scaffolds all our “COVID babies” need to rebuild with the intellectual blocks they’ve salvaged from the storm. The pieces of treasure they’ve gathered may have suffered a sea-change, but, if we can help them organize, those building blocks are waiting to coalesce into something rich and strange.

‘Turn, Talk, and Share’

Kanako Suwa (she/her) is a queer, multilingual TCK (Third Culture Kid)turned international educator, currently working at Chiang Mai International School as the EAL coordinator. You can follow her on Twitter at @kanakosuwa:

As an English-as a second language specialist, the strategy that I use the most frequently and with success is “Turn, Talk, and Share.” This is an extension of the well-known “Turn & Talk” strategy that adds an element of active listening and peer check-in. This strategy can be used in any content at all age groups, whether in a Grade 1 science lesson or a Grade 11 AP seminar, and is really simple to implement. After explaining instructions for an activity or introducing a new concept, ask students to turn to a classmate and take turns talking about what they heard and understood.

The traditional “Turn & Talk” ends here, but I challenge you to add on the “Share” aspect. This can be done in two levels. One: Have students share with the class what they said to their partner. Two: Have students share what their partner said to them. With level one, you are inviting students to share their own understanding, which may be helpful for everyone in the class to listen to. Especially in the case of EAL students, the same concept explained in multiple different ways, which can be considered to be a part of “multiple exposure,” can help solidify understanding.

Level two requires more effort from the students. This involves teachers asking students to share what their partner said, either verbatim or as a summary. This gives partners the chance to share, negotiate, and solidify their understanding—sometimes, partners listening will notice that there is a misunderstanding and will correct the other. Both partners may admit to not understanding and will be able to discuss without feeling like they are the only one who didn’t understand. And by discussing and co-constructing meaning before they share with the rest of the classroom, you can ensure that students have adequate understanding before you move on.

In addition to checking for understanding, Turn, Talk, and Share helps students build foundational skills for learning—active listening, negotiation of meaning, collaboration, and summarizing, to name a few. For example, while summarizing is generally considered to be a literacy skill, students should also be practicing the skill of summarizing by listening and summarizing lab findings from a science class. Providing transdisciplinary opportunities to practice critical skills is crucial in helping students apply these skills beyond one content area.

Finally, by having students talk to each other and collaboratively create meaning, you, as the teacher, can ensure that there is a shared understanding of concepts and activities in your classroom!

‘Preassessment’

Cindy Garcia has been a bilingual educator for 18 years and is currently a districtwide specialist for bilingual/ESL mathematics. She is active on X @CindyGarciaTX and on her blog:

The best instructional strategy that I have used is preassessment. During my first 1.5 years as a teacher, I found myself running out of time. I didn’t have enough time to facilitate all of the lessons that I had planned for a unit before needing to move on to the next unit. I found myself cutting important tasks and activities from the end of my units. I noticed that my instruction was surface level and we were not going deep enough. I was spending most of the time on prerequisite skills or skills from the previous grade level rather than on grade-level content.

For example, a 3rd grade math standard was telling time to one minute. I wanted to make sure that my students had a solid foundation. I spent too long on making sure my students knew the parts of a clock, telling time to the hour, telling time to the half-hour, and telling time to the five minutes. Once I started preassessing my students, I had a lot more time to spend on rigorous grade-level content.

My preassessments were very informal. Before starting each unit, I would show a picture or sample problem from the previous grade level that was aligned to the current topic. Students would solve the problem or create a web explaining everything they knew. I analyzed the student work and I was able to glean a lot of important information. I learned what vocabulary they had internalized. I learned what strategy or tools they were familiar with. I learned what they already knew and what gaps they might have.

Preassessments gave me the evidence I needed to not start each unit focusing on prerequisite skills. Most of the time I was able to get started further along in the unit. I was also able to be proactive because I had a better idea of where students might get stuck. I had just in time supports such as manipulatives, graphic organizers, visuals, and sentence frames ready for my students.

Thanks to Abeer, Donna, Kanako, and Cindy for contributing their thoughts.

They answered this question of the week:

What is the best instructional strategy that you have used that can be applied across multiple content areas?

Consider contributing a question to be answered in a future post. You can send one to me at [email protected] . When you send it in, let me know if I can use your real name if it’s selected or if you’d prefer remaining anonymous and have a pseudonym in mind.

You can also contact me on Twitter at @Larryferlazzo .

Just a reminder; you can subscribe and receive updates from this blog via email . And if you missed any of the highlights from the first 12 years of this blog, you can see a categorized list here .

The opinions expressed in Classroom Q&A With Larry Ferlazzo are strictly those of the author(s) and do not reflect the opinions or endorsement of Editorial Projects in Education, or any of its publications.

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