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Classroom Strategies
Concept Maps
A concept map is a visual organizer that can enrich students' understanding of a new concept. Using a graphic organizer, students think about the concept in several ways. Most concept map organizers engage students in answering questions such as, "What is it? What is it like? What are some examples?" Concept maps deepen understanding and comprehension.
Why use a concept map?
- It helps children organize new information.
- It helps students to make meaningful connections between the main idea and other information.
- They're easy to construct and can be used within any content area.
| When to use: | Before reading | During reading | After reading |
|---|---|---|---|
| How to use: | Individually | With small groups | Whole class setting |
How to use a concept map
Note: It is important that teachers spend time introducing younger students to charts and diagrams prior to using this strategy.
There are several ways to construct concept maps. Most include the following steps:
- Model how to identify the major ideas or concepts presented in a selection of text as you read.
- Organize the ideas into categories. Remind students that your organization may change as you continue to read and add more information.
- Use lines or arrows on the map to represent how ideas are connected to one another, a particular category, and/or the main concept. Limit the amount of information on the map to avoid frustration.
- After students have finished the map, encourage them to share and reflect on how they each made the connections between concepts.
- Encourage students to use the concept map to summarize what was read.
Download blank templates
- Template 1 (280K PDF)*
- Template 2 (52K PDF)*
- Template 3 (56K PDF)*
Examples
Science
How a concept map could be used with a topic such as the study of weather.
Here's a more complex concept map from a study on bats.
See example > (40K PDF)*
How concept maps have been used in early childhood education to help students understand more about trees, their bodies, and other familiar topics.
Children's books to use with this strategy
Mapping Penny's World
Nonfiction — science, social studies
A girl maps her dog Penny's world from her room, to the neighborhood as well as the tools she uses.
Me on the Map
Nonfiction — science, social studies
A child explains how her world is mapped beginning with the bedroom and expanding outward into the entire country.
There's a Map on My Lap
Easy reader/nonfiction
The familiar Cat in the Hat is used to introduce newly independent readers to maps of all kinds.
Differentiated instruction
For second language learners, students of varying reading skill, students with learning disabilities, and younger learners
- Teachers can use concept maps as a pre-reading strategy by inviting students to share what they already know about a particular concept. While reading, teachers should ask students to help add to the map as a group using an overhead or large chart. This provides a visual aid for building upon their prior knowledge with new information they have gathered from reading.
- Teachers may wish to have students practice writing skills by asking students to write on their own concept map.
- Teach vocabulary words explicitly and use simple words.
- Be sure the pointed part of each arrow is clear. Design the graphics to minimize directional confusion.
- When applicable, allow students to draw pictures or use cut out pictures as well as words.
See the research that supports this strategy
Birbili, M. (2007). Mapping Knowledge: Concept Maps in Early Childhood Education. Retrieved November 4, 2008.
Council for Exceptional Children, the Division for Learning Disabilities (DLD) and the Division for Research (DR). Graphic Organizers: Power Tools for Teaching Students with Learning Disabilities (528K PDF)*.
Hyerle, D. (1996). Visual tools for constructing knowledge. Alexandria, VA: Association of Supervisors of Curriculum Development.
Novak, Joseph D. (1998). Learning, creating, and using knowledge: Concept maps as facilitative tools in schools and corporations. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.
Noyd, Robert. (1998). A primer on concept maps. USAFA Educator, 7(1). Retrieved November 5, 2008.
Comments
can anyone send me examples of a concept map used to help young children read better
Posted by: robin pogue | November 28, 2010 02:25 PM