Week 9 Term 1: Teacher Practice: Graphic Organizer (March 24 - March 28)

In Term 2 I am going to trial a Graphic Organizer that I am going to trial with my Year 9 and NCEA Level 3 English classes. The definition of a Graphic Organizer "A graphic organizer visually represents ideas, concepts, and relationships between various components. Concept maps and knowledge maps all are types of graphic organizers. You can use any chart or diagram as a graphic organizer to compare facts and depict a story." Over the years there are different types of ways that I have used Graphic Organizers but I wanted to be really intentional about the one that I am going to use in Term 2. 

Frayer Model 1

The Graphic Organizer that I am using is the Frayer Model. In this post I am going to explain how I am going to use it for my Year 9 English class and NCEA Level 3 English class. I chose this model as I really like the outline and the section for directions as it is all there for the students to reference if they get off track. 

YEAR 9 ENGLISH CLASS: GRAPHIC ORGANIZER

Click on the image to access the Graphic Organizer for Year 9 English

I have used the Frayer Model as a template for the Graphic Organizer that I am going to use with my Year 9 class. I will be using this for our Term 2 unit study of 'My Voice'. The primary text that we are going to use this Graphic Organizer for is Alicia Keys 'P.O.W'. After the first reading as a class, I will introduce the Graphic Organizer and ask the students to do a second reading (independently) and then answer the guiding questions. The questions are organized in a way where the students has to: 

1) Locate information - find unfamiliar words from the text and their definition

2) Making meaning - reread the text and identify the main purpose

3) Create meaning - create their own text based on the text that they have read

NCEA LEVEL 3 ENGLISH: GRAPHIC ORGANIZER

Click on the image to access the NCEA Level 3 English Graphic Organizer

Like the Year 9 English Graphic Organizer, I am going to use the Frayer Model as the prototype for the NCEA Level 3 English Graphic Organizer. I will be using this for our Term 2 unit 'Overcoming Challenges: Through written text'. The primary text that we are focusing on is Tim O'brien's 'The Things They Carried' and I will look at the chapter 'Speaking of Courage' as the text to use the Graphic Organizer for. As with my Year 9 English class, I will do the first initial read of the text with the students and then I will introduce the Graphic Organizer. The purpose of using the Graphic Organizer after the second reading is so that I can get the students to: 

1) Author's purpose - understand the main message or purpose of the chapter

2) Locate information - Find quotes that support the author's purpose

3) Create meaning - create their own understanding of the title of the text and how it is influential in the overall message of the text

I look forward to reflecting on how this goes in Term 2. I am also going to look into a new AI generated tool that can help plan/create lesson plans for differentiated teaching (something I want to do better in for my Year 9 English class) - here is the link that I am going look into and then write a post about: https://app.diffit.me/