Using Graphic Organizers to Help Develop Reading and Writing Skills

1. Using Graphic Organizers to Help Develop Reading and Writing Skills William Grabe Northern Arizona University William.grabe@nau.edu

2. Key Foundations • Graphic organizers can be used for many purposes • Anticipate text reading and writing tasks • Develop vocabulary knowledge • Brainstorm ideas • Make connections across sets of information • Prepare for follow-up writing tasks

3. Key Foundations • Graphic organizers can come in many forms • Advanced organizers • Semantic maps and webbing • Outlines • Venn diagrams • T-bar diagrams

4. Key Foundations • Advanced organizers Chapter X Topic Sub-topic 1 Sub-topic 2 Detail A Detail B Detail C

5. Key Foundations • Semantic maps and webbing

6. Key Foundations • Outlines • _____________________________________ • _________________________________ • _________________________________ • _____________________________________ • _________________________________ • _________________________________ • _____________________________________

7. Key Foundations • Venn diagrams

8. Key Foundations • T-bar diagrams

9. Key Foundations • Several types of graphic organizers are useful, but graphic organizers that reflect discourse structure are the most effective • Discourse awareness is a key aspect of reading comprehension abilities • Knowledge of discourse structures supports the development of writing skills • Students can learn to recognizef discourse structures in texts and in their own writing.

10. Importance of Discourse Structure • Texts have knowledge structures or basic rhetorical patterns

11. Importance of Discourse Structure • Texts have knowledge structures or basic rhetorical patterns • They are relatively few in number, and they recur in many combinations

12. Importance of Discourse Structure • Texts have knowledge structures or basic rhetorical patterns • They are relatively few in number, and they recur in many combinations • Readers can identify an overarching structure organizing instructional texts

13. Importance of Discourse Structure • Texts have knowledge structures or basic rhetorical patterns • They are relatively few in number, and they recur in many combinations • Readers can identify an overarching structure organizing instructional texts • Readers can identify text structures in text sub-sections

14. Importance of Discourse Structure • Structures include description, process, time sequence, cause and effect, comparison and contrast, definition, problem—solution, classification, for and against, character description, and narrative episodes

15. Importance of Discourse Structure • Structures include description, process, time sequence, cause and effect, comparison and contrast, definition, problem—solution, classification, for and against, character description, and narrative episodes • A number of minor variations exist in analyzing these sub systems

16. Importance of Discourse Structure • Structures include description, process, time sequence, cause and effect, comparison and contrast, definition, problem—solution, classification, for and against, character description, and narrative episodes • A number of minor variations exist in analyzing these sub systems • These text structures are useful for both reading and writing instruction

17. Impact of Text Structure Instruction In general, we have found incredibly positive support for just about any approach to text structure instruction…. Any sort of systematic attention to clues that reveal how the authors attempt to relate ideas to one another or any sort of systematic attempt to impose structure on a text, especially in some sort of visual re-representation of the relationship among key ideas, facilitates comprehension as well as both short-term and long-term memory for the text. Pearson and Fielding (1991: 832)

18. Evidence for Text Structure Instruction • Three major lines of research can be discerned on text structure instruction • Direct instruction which explicitly raises student awareness of specific text structuring • Student awareness of text structure through graphic organizers, semantic maps, outline grids, and tree diagrams • Instruction in reading strategies that involve text structuring

19. Using Graphic Organizers Exploring A Text for Instruction Jetlag http://community.wvu.edu/~xj002 http://olc.spsd.sk.ca/DE/PD/instr/strats/graphicorganizers/index.html

20. Defining Jet lag Jet lag is a that

21. Defining Jet lag people suffer when flying cross time zones Jet lag is a problem that

22. The Jet Lag Problem Cause Effect Jet lag (flying cross time zones)

23. The Jet Lag Problem Cause Effect • Makes a person tired and confused • Causes headaches • Causes poor sleep and appetite Jet lag (flying cross time zones)

24. Comparing Jet Lag and Flying Stress Jet lag Flying stress Comparison Contrast

25. Comparing Jet Lag and Flying Stress Jet lag Flying stress Comparison Contrast

26. Comparing Jet Lag Impact on People More affected Less affected Contrast

27. Comparing Jet Lag Impact on People More affected Less affected Contrast

28. Jet Lag Solutions Problem Solution Jet lag (its symptoms)

29. Jet Lag Solutions Problem Solution Jet lag (its symptoms)

30. Discourse Structure and Writing • Students examine texts consistently for discourse structures • Basic discourse structures are repeated consistently across multiple texts • Students can engage in a set of follow-up writing activities • Students can work in pairs, in groups, or along with the teacher who uses an OHP

31. Discourse Structure and Writing • Identifying main purposes of paragraphs • Outlining main ideas in the text • Paraphrasing important paragraphs • Summarizing the text • Tell a story about feeling jet lag • Comparing the text information to information in other texts

32. Writing Down Main Purposes of Paragraphs • Look at diagrams related to paragraph 1. What are the main goals of paragraph one? • What is the main goal of Paragraph 2? • What is the main goal fo paragraph 3? • What is the main goal of paragraph 4? • What would be good sub-headings for each paragraph?

33. Outlining Main Ideas in the Text • Look at four paragraphs. How many main ideas should be included in an outline of the text? • If there are five headings, what should they be? • How many blank lines should there be for more detailed information under each sub-heading?

34. Paraphrasing Important Paragraphs • Look at paragraph three: What is the main goal of the paragraph? • Who is being compared? • Make a list of features that identify those more affected. • Make a list of features for those who are less affected. • Use the discourse structure for paragraph three to make these lists.

35. Summarizing the Text • Look at the text structure diagrams and write one sentence about each diagram • Do you need to add any opening sentence? Do you need any explanatory sentence? • Supply any needed transition words.

36. Tell a Story about Jet Lag • Imagine you are taking a trip to South Africa and you get Jet Lag. How do you feel? What do you do? • Imagine a friend is going on a trip and you give advice on avoiding jet lag. What would you tell this person?

37. Compare Text to Other Texts • Compare the Jet Lag text to another text that involves travel difficulties? Do they overlap? Are the complementary? Are they contradictory? • Look on the Web for Jet Lag advice and compare with the present text. Should the advice list be prioritized? • Look on the Web for Jet Lag products. What do they say? Are they persuasive? • Does Jet Lag lead to any medical complications? Look on Web sites.

38. Improving Discourse Awareness through Graphic Organizers William Grabe Northern Arizona University William.grabe@nau.edu http://community.wvu.edu/~xj002 http://olc.spsd.sk.ca/DE/PD/instr/strats/ graphicorganizers/index.html