What is a graphic organizer?

Graphic organizers are useful visual tool that help students brainstorm ideas, organize information, and draft papers with just a few words or phrases. There are many different kinds of organizers available, and you can even invent your own.

What can graphic organizers be used for?

• Expressing relationship
• Mapping cause and effect
• Categorizing
• Sequencing
• Comparing
• Contrasting
• Developing concepts

During the Invention stage of the writing process, a mind map will help you come up with ideas and examples for your paper.

During the Arrangement stage of writing, a compare/contrast chart, storyboard, hamburger organizer, or plot diagram may be just the thing you need to visually sort and organize ideas.

Once ideas have been generated and roughly arranged, you can create a formal outline or simply move to the writing process.

I’ve created a Pinterest board with a number of helpful samples of organizers for many different uses. You can see a small sampling of them in the screenshot above.

Sophia Learning has provided a useful tutorial that outlines various types of graphic organizers and other tools for writing.

Here is how to make a mind map.