Higher Order Thinking Skills: Graphic Organisers

Abstract

A graphic organiser is a way of organising information visually. Some are visual but not very organised (eg Attribute Web) and some are organised but not very visual (eg Storyboard = scaffold for writing and understanding narrative). ... Teachers need to scaffold students' use of graphic organisers but gradually withdraw the scaffolding. The higher order thinking skills that are needed to construct a graphic organiser will not be developed fully until the scaffolding has been removed. Scaffolding can include teacher demonstration, handouts with part of the graphic organiser filled in and part blank for the students to fill in, and joint construction in pairs or cooperative groups.