Parental Guidance The Eight Graphic Organisers

(Thinking Maps)

If you would like further information about how the graphic organisers are implemented into your child's learning on a daily basis, please arrange to meet with your child's class teacher so that they are able to discuss your child's learning with you.

“Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I

remember. Involve me and I learn.”

Benjamin Franklin

At the Woodland Academy Trust (WAT) , we aim to enable each and every child to be able to think independently and look at

learning from a range of perspectives. Throughout your child's educational

journey at the WAT, the skills involved in thinking independently are developed

through modelling and using eight graphic organisers.

A graphic organiser not only helps break a task into smaller steps, it can also help children to organise their thoughts in a

very visual way. This guide will introduce and explain the

eight graphic organisers that we use at our schools and so that you can help your children to use these when completing home learning tasks together at home.

“Education is not learning the facts, but the training of

the mind to think.”

Albert Einstein

To learn more about the Thinking Schools approach and how the eight graphic

organisers are implemented across our Trust, please visit our website at

https:/www.woodlandacademytrust. co.uk/assets/Uploads/Thinking-School-Introduction.pdf

Revealing the Champion Within

Brace Map Thinking process: This map is used for seeing the structural analysis of whole to parts relationships. It can be confused with the tree map, but the difference is that the brace map is for identi-fying concrete parts of one object whilst the tree map classifies types of categories. Purpose: To identify whole and part relationships.

Bridge Map Thinking process: This map is used for identifying similarities between relationships, identi-fying specific relationships between words and creat-ing analogies. Purpose: identify similarities between relation-ships and create analogies.

Circle Map Think-ing process: This map is used to help show your child's understanding of a topic. We use this circle map to gen-erate ideas, assess what we already know, and possibly what we have learned if using it during or at the end of a teaching sequence. Around the outside is a box which is called the 'frame of reference' where we can write how we know what we know.

Did someone teach us?

Did we experience it?

Did we read/see something about it? Purpose: To generate ideas; identify knowledge and where this was attained

Tree Map: Thinking process: This thinking map helps to sort items into different groups or catego-ries, something that we do frequently to organise new ideas. Items are grouped by similar or common qualities. The concepts sorted through a tree map are often more conceptual or abstract.

Purpose: To classify and categorise information. The goal is to identify commonalities that will allow us to organise our thoughts.

Multi-Flow Map– Thinking process: This map is used to show and analyse cause and effect relation-ships. To create this map students can begin with either a cause or an effect and work backward or forward dependent on their starting point. For ex-ample a map could begin with the statement that "Orangutans have been losing their habitats". Stu-dents can then add causes of this to the left of the map, such as: "increased palm oil plantations means the destruction of tropical rain forests”.

Purpose: Analysing cause and effect, predicting outcomes, describing changes, arriving at explana-tions why effects occurred.

Bubble Map Thinking process: This map is used for describing- using adjectives or phrases. It has a large inside circle from which lines extend to smaller outside circles or "bubble s”. Purpose: description and vocabulary development

KING HENRY

cruel

heartless

dangerous

greedy

selfish

rich

spoilt

Flow Map- Thinking process: This map is used to se-quence and order information. It can be used to create timelines and his-toric events. In problem

solving it can help to organise the problem into stag-es that can enable a problem to be solved through smaller steps.

Flow maps can include pictures. It can help

children with

recollection of a story which will enable them to then write

stories through planning using a flow map.

Purpose: To break down learning into a sequence, identify steps throughout the procedure.