Running head: USING GRAPHIC ORGANIZERS FOR PREWRITING 1

Using Graphic Organizers for Prewriting

Courtney McCoy

Wesleyan College

Author’s Note

This paper was prepared for Education 390, taught by Professor Hamm.
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Introduction

Writing is a life skill that students must learn in order to communicate effectively in and

out of school. Unfortunately, many students struggle with the ability to organize their writing and

also show difficulty in incorporating creative word choice in their writing. Studies show that

when children are not taught how to write effectively, significant barriers in education,

employment, and other life pursuits may occur (Chohan, 2011). As an educator, one of the most

important tasks is to introduce students to the written language and teach them how to use

written language to communicate effectively. There are, however, strategies for teachers to use to

help improve the students’ performance in writing. With the use of graphic organizers, students

are encouraged to plan and brainstorm their topic before beginning to write. Baxendell (2003)

defines graphic organizers as helpful tools in providing an organized and visual way in which to

present information (p. 46-48). Although there are other strategies used to improve writing,

graphic organizers have the ultimate goal of helping students become more effective, proficient

writers and also enjoy the writing process.

The Importance of Graphic Organizers

Graphic organizers provide a visual representation of key details and ideas for students

who have difficulty organizing information (Baxendell, 2003). These models can prove to show

success in all areas of academics when implemented carefully. But before using graphic

organizers, teachers must give careful consideration to their own preparation and provide

sufficient modeling before placing the expectation on the student (Egan, 1999). This idea

justifies that teachers are to model as a class, on how to effectively use graphic organizers before

allowing the students to do so independently. This demonstration can range from, discussing the
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different types of models, how to label them, or as simple as providing enough space to complete

the graphic organizer.

According to Miller and Veatch (2011), graphic organizers can be used to help students

get their thoughts in order before they begin to draft their assignment. With the use of graphic

organizers, students will be able to organize their story with a beginning, middle, and end and

learn to select words for their chosen topic. They allow students to categorize information into

logical patterns; such as, sequence, cause and effect, and problem-solution. In a variety of

formats dependent upon the task, graphic organizers facilitate students’ learning by helping them

identify areas of focus within a broad topic. During the pre-writing stage, graphic organizers can

assist students in generating ideas and planning a course of action.

Additionally, graphic organizers provide a fun way for students to learn about the writing

process. Kids love being able to visualize new materials. Instead of traditional note-taking,

students are now able to study using visuals, like diagrams or webs. With many students falling

under the category of visual learners, graphic organizers play an essential role in the classroom.

This is because it enables broad topics to be easily broken down into specifics. They help

students organize their thoughts and ideas for answering questions, function as a pre-writing tool

for essays, and provide a visual display of information. Graphic organizers are tools for writing

and just like the tools in a hardware store each serves a different purpose.

Different Types of Graphic Organizers

Although graphic organizers can be very successful when teaching students the writing process,

teachers must learn to be cautious when choosing the appropriate graphic organizers to

incorporate into writer’s workshop. Baxendell (2003) suggests that graphic organizers must be

consistent, coherent, and integrated in creative ways to show success in students’ learning (p. 46-
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48). Graphic organizers must be easily understandable, as poorly constructed graphic organizers

will cause students to become confused and disorganized in their writing. Graphic organizers

come in many different formats. The Venn diagram is graphic organizer that can help students

organize their thoughts and ideas about any two objects that have similarities and differences.

Concept maps graphically illustrate relationships between two or more concepts and are linked

by words that describe their relationship. Brainstorming webs show how different categories of

information relate to one another. Mind Maps are visual representations of hierarchical

information that include a central idea or image surrounded by connected branches of associated

topics or ideas. Teachers can use graphic organizers to illustrate a student’s knowledge about a

topic or section of text showing areas for improvement.

Personal Response

Based upon my personal classroom observations in mostly English Language Arts (ELA)

classes I teach, students write down their thoughts as they think of them rather than in the order

they occurred or the order that makes the most sense. Therefore, when writing, students’ work is

often unorganized. Their writing also has a tendency to be disorganized as sentences do not

always follow one another in a narrative order rather, in a more listed form. Although most

students in my classes can orally express good ideas, they write summaries without proper

writing conventions, details, organization, sentence fluency, and word choice. The students have

the ability to write well, but when they are not provided with guidance, they lack the self-

monitoring strategies. Graphic organizers, which are visual representations of ideas, help

children organize their thoughts and apply thinking skills to the content in a more organized and

orderly way.
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Conclusion

Graphic organizers provide a visual representation for young writers. As a result, graphic

organizers have become a vital role in many classrooms. When designing a graphic organizer, it

is important to create something that is clear, simple, and not distracting or too busy. The writing

process can be a difficult task to master. By learning how to organize their thoughts and carefully

choose words for their writing through the use of graphic organizers, students can learn to

comprehend difficult academic standards, such as the writing process (Baxendell, 2003, p. 46-

48). Many studies have demonstrated that graphic organizers facilitate learning compared to

learning by studying a text alone (Robinson, 1998). Graphic organizers are beneficial to learners

at all grade levels, in addition to helping students organize their thinking and writing process,

graphic organizers can act as instructional tools. The research and writing behind the methods for

the use of graphic organizers is undeniable and I am anticipating putting forth and testing out

these procedures in an actual classroom.

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References

Baxendell, B. (2003). Consistent, coherent, creative the three c’s of graphic organizers. Teaching

Exceptional Children, 35(3), 46-48.

Chohan, S. (2011). Any letter for me? Relationships between an elementary school letter writing

program and student attitudes, literacy achievement, and friendship culture. Early

Childhood Education 39(1), 39-50.

Egan, M. (1999). Reflections on effective use of graphic organizer’s. Journal of Adolescent &

Adult Literacy, 42(8), 641-645.

Miller, M., & Veatch, N. (2011). Literacy in context: Choosing instructional strategies to teach

reading in content areas for students grades 5-12. Boston: Pearson.

Robinson, D.H., & Katayama, A.D. (1998). Interactive effects of graphic organizers and delayed

review on concept application. Journal of Experimental Education, 17-32.