Highly Recommended - The Teacher's Big Book of Graphic Organizers

I've added a new book to my collection of teaching resources - The Teacher's Big Book of Graphic Organizers by Katherine S. McKnight, published by Jossey-Bass www.josseybass.com

Graphic organizers are formats for presenting information visually. If you've ever drawn a circle with lines coming out of it to represent a main topic (circle) and sub-topics (lines), you've used a graphic organizer. The Teacher's Big Book of Graphic Organizers contains 100 graphic organizers for grades 4-12. Each graphic organizer is presented on two adjoining pages. The first page describes the unique features of the graphic organizer; the specific grade level and level of difficulty; an example of the graphic organizer filled-in with information; and "Tips for Classroom Implementation." The second page is the actual graphic organizer in black and white, ready to be copied for classroom use.

The book is well designed to enable the teacher to choose the most appropriate graphic organizer for the desired learning outcome. Chapter One, "Why Are Graphic Organizers Such Important Tools for Teaching and Learning?" discusses ways that graphic organizers enhance instruction for all learners and for any subject matter. It also includes suggestions for using graphic organizers with special needs students,

The remaining five chapters group the 100 graphic organizers according to purpose, such as "Graphic Organizers for Brainstorming and Idea Generation" (Chapter Two) and "Graphic Organizers for Supporting Reading Comprehension" (Chapter Five).

Although The Teacher's Big Book of Graphic Organizers is designed for secular studies, many of the graphic organizers can be used as-is or easily modified for use in Judaic Studies and Hebrew Language classes.
For example, a graphic organizer called "ABC Brainstorm" requires students to recall and record points of information for each letter of the alphabet. This graphic organizer could be used to indicate students' prior knowledge of a subject or knowledge gained after a unit of study.
If the subject were Passover, "A" might be "anger" (how Pharaoh felt when the Israelites fled); "B" for "beating" (of Jewish slaves); "C" for "charoset;" "D" for "darkness;" "E" for "exodus;" and on through "Z" for "zapping" (the Egyptians with Plagues).

The "Vocabulary Tree" graphic organizer is perfect for showing Hebrew three-letter roots and the words derived from them.

The "REAP" graphic organizer helps students to understand written material by instructing them to:
"Read the text
Encode into your own language (summarize the passage in your own words)
Annotate: Write down any connections, questions, or notes about the text
Ponder What is this passage about?"
What an appropriate approach to studying the weekly Torah Portion!

Not only are the graphic organizers useful for students, but many can be used to record, organize, and examine information generated at faculty meetings or in professional presentations.

I plan to use material from The Teacher's Big Book of Graphic Organizers with my students and highly recommend it as a personal resource or for shared use through a Teacher Resource Center.