A Guide to Graphic Organizers: Helping Students Organize and Process Content for Deeper Learning, 2nd Edition

"Creating a mindful rendering of student thinking with these graphic tools is at the heart of this extensive work. K–12 teachers will applaud this effort as they use these graphic organizers in rich and relevant instructional activities."
—Robin Fogarty, Educational Consultant and Author

"An excellent aid in teaching students to gather and process data systematically, develop critical thinking skills, and become actively engaged learners."
—Mary Jo Johnson, Educational Evaluator, North Carolina School for the Deaf, Morganton, NC

Help students organize their thinking, process content, and work cooperatively!

Graphic organizers are effective, research-validated tools for supporting student achievement, promoting students' higher-level thinking, and strengthening learners' visual and metacognitive skills.

In this combined update of The Cooperative Think Tank I and II, James Bellanca offers teachers a collection of 24 ready-to-use graphic organizers to enhance student learning across subject areas and grade levels. Presenting each graphic organizer in its own chapter, the author includes lessons for introducing these engaging learning tools to students and offers tips for maximizing their positive learning effects.

Revised with current research, new graphic organizers, and a streamlined format, this edition also provides guidelines for using graphic organizers to:

1. Support cooperative learning groups
2. Help students process content
3. Effectively assess students’ understanding of concepts

For novice teachers or seasoned veterans, Bellanca's extensive collection is the ideal guide to help you integrate graphic organizers into daily instruction.

About The Author:
James Bellanca founded SkyLight Professional Development in 1982. As its president, he mentored more than a dozen author-consultants as he led SkyLight in pioneering the use of strategic teaching and comprehensive professional development. Prior to meta-analyses that marked the effectiveness of cooperative learning, graphic organizers, and other cognitive strategies on student achievement, Bellanca coauthored more than a dozen texts that advocated the application of these tools across the curriculum, with the theme, “not just for the test but for a lifetime of learning.” Currently, Bellanca is building on the theories of cognitive psychologist Reuven Feuerstein to develop more effective responses to the learning needs of low-performing students whose academic achievement continues to lag behind those who have greater learning advantages.