Organization: Frames, Clusters,
and Stems
Organization process is an important aspect for achievement of all the efforts for attaining goals. The systematic organize structure is a key to success in any aspect of life. In “Organizers: frames, clusters and Stems, ” Benjamin presents organizational patterns and clusters to categorize information which develop organized writing. She provides patterns for classification, comparisons, characteristics, chronology, claims and cases, causes, consequences, conditions and criticisms. I find the examples of all the C-patterns to be very fascinating. I thought that all of the model words provided in each section should be made accessible to students by putting them on a classroom's wall; as greater interaction with these models will help them to use it in their writing more often.
However, I felt that some of the techniques are more suitable for the older grades students. Young learners grasp knowledge mostly through visual assistances. Graphic organizers are a great device to assist students in becoming more structured and organized in writing. For instance, in the comparison patterns, I thought that charts, tables and Venn-diagrams, as Mariel demonstrated in her strategy workshop, would be more beneficial. Similarly for Classification, Spider map and Cerebral charts exhibited by Vanessa are great models to teach the young students.
Hi Iram,
ReplyDeleteLet me begin by saying what a great job you did providing different examples of graphic organizers. I like how you labeled each one and showed how they can be implemented in various content areas. I also agree with you that many of the techniques the author uses to teach organizational skills when writing are a little advance for younger students. However, if modified to fit the curriculum for younger grades, I certainly think these strategies can be beneficial for students as well. It is important that as educators we start to teach students in younger grades organizational techniques that will improve their writing so as they get older they will already be familiar with these skills. I like the idea of using graphic organizers because it helps students structure writing assignments. The great thing about organizers is that it can be used across the curriculum and not just for writing assignments.
Thank you so much for your comments Janine, definitely I preserve the same sentiments and thoughts that in order to teach the younger students, the organizational skills need to be modified a little bit. Even in the classroom that I observe, I see the younger students struggling with organizational skills in their writing. Certainly these techniques should be taught at early stage to familiarize them with these writing skills.
ReplyDeleteI am a very big fan of graphic organizers. Due to the graphics and visuals, young students grasp knowledge very quickly and efficiently. Moreover, what I like about them is that these organizers can be used across the curriculum in any content areas.