Getting students to read can be a challenge. They might be a struggling reader, or they might be a reluctant reader because of a past reading experience, or not having been exposed to reading material at their level.
It can be a magical thing to see a student begin to love reading. However, once they are reading, it can be another challenge to make sure they are comprehending the material.
There are a few things I have found helpful over the years with my students. One of them is using reading strategies graphic organizers. These can help with reading comprehension and also give you a great way to track where your students are with each text.
This blog post not only shares a free graphic organizer resource with you but also has some great reasons why you should give reading strategies graphic organizers a chance in your classroom.
Keep reading to learn more.
Why should students use reading strategies graphic organizers?
Reading strategies graphic organizers are a great tool to help students stay organized while they are reading. They provide a clear structure that will help students process the text and get more from it. They also give students the framework to develop other skills that will assist them with research and organization in the future.
Here are a few other reasons why reading strategies graphic organizers are fantastic for students to use while they read:
They Can Enhance Reading Comprehension
By using reading strategies graphic organizers, students can break down the text into key points and visualize them clearly. This can make the material easier for students to understand, allowing them to see how ideas throughout the reading connect and helping them remember key points.
They Facilitate Engagement
Reading can be very passive, especially for reluctant or struggling readers. Using reading strategies graphic organizers can help students catalogue, label, and interact with the material as they read.
Being able to break down the text can make reading more interactive and allow students to participate more and engage with their peers confidently.
They Promote Critical Thinking
It’s easy for a student to read a lot but never go beyond surface-level reading. Reading strategies graphic organizers help students organize their thoughts, as well as analyze and evaluate parts of the text.
By looking at elements such as characters, plot, problems and solutions, etc., students will develop deeper critical thinking and analytical skills.
They Help to Support Diverse Learning Styles
As teachers, we know that students learn in a variety of ways.
- Visual learners will benefit greatly from using reading strategies graphic organizers while they read.
- The format also supports kinesthetic learners, who learn best by being hands-on, through activities like drawing and writing.
- Even auditory learners can gain from discussing the graphic organizers with a partner or group.
They Can Help Improve Retention
Seeing the relationship between ideas and concepts visually can enhance memory retention since it can be more memorable than just text.
Having that step of recording information helps to engrain the material in the student, helping them to go beyond surface-level reading and allowing them to remember what they have read.
They Assist Students in Organization
Using reading strategies graphic organizers can help students organize and sort their thoughts, making it easier for them to identify details, ideas, and the structure of the material. This works with both fiction and non-fiction texts, as students are isolating what matters the most in the text.
It’s important to remember that organization itself isn’t an innate skill for students, and that goes for the organization you can see (such as their desks, lockers, etc.) and the organization of thoughts.
They Encourage Independence
Graphic organizers encourage student independence by allowing them to monitor their own understanding and track those areas where they may need some help with the text.
When they use reading strategies graphic organizers regularly, students begin to recognize when they are missing information or when part of a text isn’t making sense.
They Support Digital Learning
Using digital versions of reading strategies graphic organizers, like those that integrate into Google Classroom™, allows them to be available for remote learning or to be blended with technology-enhanced instruction.
With digital learning, students can type, drag, and drop directly onto digital documents, which not only makes assignments efficient but also helps to save the environment by reducing paper use.
They Provide an Aid For Note-Taking
Students can use reading strategies graphic organizers, as note-taking tools that will help them summarize information from the material that they can use as a review resource later.
It’s important to remember that not all students know what is important when they are reading, so giving them an open-ended task like telling them to “take notes” isn’t always helpful. By using reading strategies graphic organizers, students are given clear prompts and spaces for targeted responses.
If you want even more tips on how to help students with note-taking skills, check out this post: 12 Great Ways to Teach Note-Taking Skills.
They Can Help Facilitate Collaboration
Reading strategies graphic organizers can be used in group settings as a framework for discussions about the material, giving students a clear reference point for key insights about the text. When everyone contributes to the same graphic organizer, it ensures that all students are on the same page and allows for shared learning.
Free Reading Strategies Graphic Organizers
A great way to start using reading strategies graphic organizers in the classroom is with this free resource I have created that provides six different organizers for students to work with. These graphic organizers help students engage, connect, and think critically about their reading.
Students can write directly on these graphic organizers, or they can collect their thoughts on sticky notes and use organizers as a study tool.
This resource contains individual PDFs of student pages to assist with online learning, e.g. Google Classroom™, as well as Google Slides™ versions of the included student pages for 1:1 technology schools.
You can find these free Reading Strategies Graphic Organizers on Shopify CAD or Teachers Pay Teachers USD.
How to Use Reading Strategies Graphic Organizers in the Classroom
These reading strategies graphic organizers are a fantastic tool in the ELA classroom. Here are some tips for teachers on how to incorporate them:
- Introduce students to using reading strategies graphic organizers by pairing the organizer with a shared reading activity. This way, you can model how to identify each section and show students how they can write down their thoughts (they can do this directly on the sheet or use sticky notes).
- Once students are familiar with the process, assign a new text for them to complete independently or in small groups. If you need help assembling groups, you can check out this post: 7 Creative Ways to Make Partners and Groups in the Classroom.
- Use these organizers to add variety to your classroom’s reading routine. You can rotate through each type or offer students a choice to choose the organizer that best fits the text or their learning style.
- Incorporate argument writing with students using reading strategies graphic organizers. Encourage them to justify the responses they write on their organizers. For example, if they are recording a specific character’s decision, have students cite which part of the text supports their conclusion. This can help students learn or reinforce citing evidence. You can learn more about this skill here: Help Students Cite Proper Evidence in Argument Writing.
- Allow students to choose whether they use printed or digital versions of the graphic organizers (if possible). Some students might prefer to write directly onto a sheet, while others might benefit from typing in the digital version.
- Make sure that students aren’t just filling out their graphic organizers and then tossing them to the back of their binders. Show them how they can be used before quizzes or writing assignments. Students can colour-code ideas or add drawings or images to their organizers that relate to the text or their thoughts.
- Use graphic organizers for reading regularly. This way, students will begin to internalize the strategies and use them independently.
- Encourage students to self-assess their skills in filling out their graphic organizers. Have them write a quick reflection on their understanding of the text or ways they could improve in filling out their organizers.
- Incorporate graphic organizers into different subjects. Students can fill out a KWL chart to track their learning before, during, and after a unit, they can use non-fiction graphic organizers for non-fiction reading, or they can use graphic organizers to help them with informational text. All of these can work beyond the ELA classroom.
- Put students in groups and assign each student a specific role. They can each contribute to different sections of the graphic organizer and then present their completed chart to the class. You can also use the Jigsaw Method for filling out the graphic organizers, so students can see what their peers recorded on their graphic organizers. This allows students to see different ways of thinking.
There is no doubt that there are many benefits to having students use graphic organizers while reading. Those benefits, and the skills they help students develop, go well beyond simply helping them understand the text.
Students are also able to develop more general skills that will serve them well not only as they head towards high school but also beyond their academic journeys.
Graphic organizers can have many different uses and can help students get the most out of their reading. For even more reasons on why you should use graphic organizers in the classroom, check out this post: Why Use Graphic Organizers?
Additional Resources:
- 8 Fun Reading Log Alternatives
- 10 Ways to Cultivate a Love of Reading
- 7 Essential Skills To Prepare Middle School Students For High School
- 10 Creative Reading Response Activity Ideas to Ignite Classroom Engagement
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