Organizers & Skills we focus on

Organizers & Skills we focus on in the Junior Division
Some of these are what are now called Graphic Organizers. There are lots of ways to organize your thoughts & what you have learned. Some ways are better than others for different things. Some ways suit different people better because nobody thinks the same way all of the time. If you are interested in what these organizers are called today (they keep changing their names), take a peek at http://www.enchantedlearning.com/graphicorganizers/

Agenda	graphic organizer, a descriptive matrix helps gather & sort information by days in a week, month at a glance
Annotated Bibliogrpahy	a bibliography with a brief description of the content of the resource
Brainstorming
Caption	brief description that goes along with a visual presentation of information like a graph, map, drawing, photograph usually only 3 to 4 sentences in length
Chart	compare & contrast used to show attributes also called a matrix or a comparison organizer
Collage
Comparison Organizer	compare & contrast used to show attributes also called a chart or a matrix
Concept Map	used to generate ideas, brainstorm represents complex structures that are inter-related prior knowledge used to learn new concepts needs a network representation can have several main concepts - depends on what comes out from brainstorming can be called idea web
Crossword Puzzle	clues are definitions of words in puzzle an be used as a glossary in a creative, non-alphabetical order form
Day at a Glance	information presented on the whiteboard so that students can anticipate what's coming up
Diagram	a drawing with parts that are labeled simplified lines make it easier to see parts (as compared to a photograph)
Glossary	a list of technical words related to a subject and their definitions knowing what these words mean makes it easier to understand information written on a topic like a mini-dictionary - usually found at the back of texts, science books words are listed alphabetically
Idea Web	used to generate ideas, brainstorm represents complex structures that are inter-related prior knowledge used to learn new concepts needs a network representation can have several main concepts - depends on what comes out from brainstorming can be called concept map, cluster word web
Information Poster	poster that has a central theme, often a "message" has graphics as well as short paragraphs or extensive captions
IPDs	Information Presentation Devices - a term coined by Miss Berndl ways to present information - usually not intended to refer to paragraph writing - the most common form of infomation
KWL	a chart with these headings: 1)What we know 2)What we want to find out 3)What we learned used to focus research or individual inquiries helps to identify misconceptions, to verify hypothesis and to confirm knowledge
Matrix	compare & contrast used to show attributes also called a chart or a comparison organizer
Mind Map - phrase copyrighted	central idea surrounded by 5 to10 ideas which are then broken down into 5 to 10 items each can be represented as a tree
Monthly Calendar	in class monthly calendar showing all upcoming major events, filed trips & due dates
Paragraphs
PMI	used to show positive, negative & interesting attributes of something Plus/ Minus/ Interesting
Poster
Questions	A working hypothesis
Ranking	prioritizing, putting things in order
Sketch	a drawing, usually not as simplified as a diagram & not usually labeled
Timeline	events in time represented in chronological order usually used to refer to historic events
Venn Diagram	a diagram using overlapping circles to show items that have similar attributes and attributes that are dissimilar
Word Pole	similar to an acrostic poem, but horizontal words just need to connect on one letter horizontal words relate to the central theme of the vertical word