UDL and Students Who Should Use Graphic Organizers

Graphic Organizers may be utilized by any student who would like additional assistance for before, during or after reading and/or writing activities.

Students with and without learning disabilities may struggle to plan their writing or remain on topic while writing. Writing is a skill that must be taught and practiced as it is NOT developed naturally much like the ability to communicate orally. A graphic organizer may help to plan and guide writing through a brainstorming activity, such as when you create a mind map, and is often done to aid in comprehension for reading as well. A concept map or writing template may also be used for reference while completing the writing process to complete a wide variety of written genres or styles (ex. recipe, research paper, persuasive essay etc.).

Graphic organizers may use pictures or words to express ideas. For students who have difficulties with spelling, organization and fine motor skills, a graphic organizer could be uploaded to a word processing program. Students may be able to avail of the keyboard or a computer/IPad drawing tool. A computer aided version of a graphic organizer may also be beneficial for students who require speech-to-text or text-to-speech accommodations. Other students may wish to represent their ideas in a way that is more advanced or artistic with the use of paper and colored pens/pencils or a more professional computer program such as C-MAPS, Inspiration or Kidspiration.

As teachers implement the use of graphic organizers within the inclusive classroom, they are supporting a learning environment that is designed in a way that is universal. By providing students with accessible materials to engage with the curricular content, opportunities to accurately represent what they know and express what they have learned, teachers are generating equality for all. This is otherwise known as the Universal Design for Learning:

Video - UDL Overview

Paragraph Writing

Click for Strategy Demonstration

Planning the Narrative Story

Mind Mapping

Graphic Organizers and Related Research

• Rogers and Graham (2008), in their meta-analysis, found that “prewriting activities had a small impact on improving the quality of writing produced by struggling writers in Grades 3-5, 8, and 12” (p. 897).

• Rogers and Graham (2008) found that “strategy instruction was effective in enhancing the number of elements, written output, and quality of students’ writing” (p. 894). These findings “generalize best to struggling writers in Grades 2-8 but are also valid for typical writers in Grades 4-8” (p. 894).

• Through using self-regulated strategy development (SRSD), which include graphic organizers, the planning, revising, content, mechanics, quality, length, and structure of student writing improved (Harris, Graham, & Mason, 2003).

• The benefits of using this approach to instruction include the recognition that it is appropriate for many emerging writers, beyond those identified as having learning disabilities (De La Paz, 1999).

• Helpful for students with and without learning disabilities and in a variety of settings (De La Paz, Owen, Harris, & Graham, 2000).

References

De La Paz, S. (1999). Teaching writing strategies and self-regulation procedures to middle school students with learning disabilities. Focus On Exceptional Children, 31(5), 1.

De La Paz, S., & Owen, B., Harris, K. R., & Graham, S. (2000). Riding Elvis's motorcycle: Using self-regulated strategy development to PLAN and WRITE for a state writing exam. Learning Disabilities Research & Practice, 15(2), 101.

Harris, K. R., Graham, S., & Mason, L. H. (2003). Self-regulated strategy development in the classroom: Part of a balanced approach to writing instruction for students with disabilities. Focus on Exceptional Children, 35(7), 1-16.

Rogers, L. A., & Graham, S. (2008). A meta-analysis of single subject design writing intervention. Journal of Educational Psychology,100(4), 879-906.

Just Some of the Benefits!

The Benefits of Graphic Organizers

·         Research has demonstrated that graphic organizers are useful for students with LD (Lerner & Johns, 2012).

·         The use of a graphic organizer minimizes the stress of working memory.

·         The use of graphic organizers, may be effective before, during, and after a lesson (Dexter & Hughes, 2011).

·         When used properly, they may support learners in applying or developing skills related to Executive Control: A component in the information-processing model that refers to the ability to control and direct one’s own learning. It is also referred to as metacognition. (Lerner & John’s, 2015, p. 146)

·         Graphic Organizers aids students in guiding their ability to grasp concepts and shape their understanding of subject matter (i.e. The Writing Process) (Lerner & John’s, 2015, p. 147).

·         Encourages a student’s metacognitive awareness. “People who exhibit metacognitive awareness when they do something to help themselves learn and remember…These behaviors indicate an awareness of one’s own limitations and the ability to plan for one’s own learning and problem solving” (Lerner and John’s. 2015, p. 149).

·         Students who use graphic organizers will become more active learners – “students who are involved with their learning and contribute to the learning process” (Lerner & Johns, 2015, p. 151).

References

Dexter, D., & Hughes, C. (2011). Graphic organizers and students with learning disabilities: A meta-analysis. Learning Disability Quarterly, 34(1), 51-72.

Lerner, J., & Johns, B.H., (2012). Learning disabilities and related mild disabilities (12th Ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Cengage Learning.

Lerner, J.W., & Johns. B.H., (2015). Learning disabilities and related disabilities: strategies for success (13th edition). Cengage Learning.

What ARE Graphic Organizers?

According to Lerner and Johns (2015), graphic organizers:

• Provide visual representations of concepts, knowledge, and/or information.

• Incorporate text and pictures.

• Assist the understanding of information by seeing complex relationships.

Some that are most commonly used include: Venn diagrams, Hierarchical (top-down) organizers, word webs, concept maps and mind mapping.

Concept Maps – They are used to “activate the student’s construction of a concept”. Ideas and words are clustered in a way that show how the concept is constructed or connected to other ideas.  

Mind Maps – These are used to present ideas related to a much larger topic. The ideas are attached to the central topic randomly to help generate further thought processing and expand on the particular topic.

(Lerner & John's, 2015, p. 148).

References

Lerner, J.W., & Johns. B.H., (2015). Learning Disabilities and Related Disabilities: Strategies for Success (13th edition). Cengage Learning.

Planning to Write

Planning your writing is just as important as the written product itself. Good planning includes the identification of your "purpose", "written format" "sequence of events or details", "related concepts and other background information" and outlines any "important topic information". Writing is not a skill that comes naturally. It must be taught and learned. Many people might begin writing with goals and ideas in mind but suddenly start to drift off subject if they are not guided by an appropriate organizer or brainstorming session.

Before you begin your writing, you may want to ask yourself:

• What is the purpose of my writing? To tell a story? To explain something? To describe something? To find something out? To address an opinion? What is my topic? What details would I like to include in my writing?
• Who is my target audience? What do they know? What would I like them to know? How might I gain their attention?

Planning your writing is one of the best ways to ensure that you are expressing your ideas effectively. Below is a sample graphic organizer that may be used in the planning process which may be used for individual or classroom use.

Planning Chart

Why Graphic Organizers?

Graphic organizers for tasks involving written expression, can reduce the cognitive demands  of that task by providing a framework for students to follow as a guide. A graphic organizer may support a student as a visual representation for some of the most significant information in the text. They can be used as visual tools that help to alleviate the anxiety often experienced by students with learning disabilities associated with reading and/or writing difficulties. Research suggests that using various types of graphic organizers during instruction, results in enhanced reading comprehension for students with learning disabilities when the appropriate organizer is selected (Singleton & Filce, 2015, p. 111-112).

There is an increasing demand being placed on students for the application of cognition related skills necessary in demonstrating knowledge and competency of the secondary academic curriculum. Students who also have learning difficulties, struggle with many of these complex cognitive tasks. Graphic organizers act as an external support to encourage the learning process (internal support) that is necessary for the attainment of various concepts such as comprehending and analyzing text, comparing points of views and making evaluations. This is also true for the expression of ideas and concepts during  written assignments.

Some commonly used examples of graphic organizers that help to aid students in written expression include, K-W-L charts, Venn Diagrams, T-Charts, Flow Charts and Cause and Effect Charts as well as Sequence Charts.

Related Links:

Graphic Organizer Software Programs
Graphic Organizer Software Program - Younger Children
Printable Graphic Organizers for Personal Classroom Use


References:

Singleton S.M. & Filce H.G. (2015). Graphic Organizers for Secondary Students with Learning Disabilities. TEACHING Exceptional Children. 48(02). 110-117. Doi: 10.1177/0040059915605799