Graphic Organizers to Teach Story Elements

Graphic organizers help children think about the parts of a story and visualize the connections that are needed to deepen comprehension.

These tools can help students in recalling the main events of a story. It can also help students summarize or retell the sequential details and plot points in a story.

Using a graphic organizer creates a mind map for English-Language Learners and struggling readers that improves comprehension.

Some graphic organizers can help students understand how authors organize their text. By mapping the text, students can identify various text structures such as cause and effect, compare and contrast, logical sequence and problem and solution.

Cartoon of a square person writing on a chart tablet containing a lightbulb.
Graphic Organizers Help Students Visualize Concepts

Using a tool such as a graphic organizer to teach story can help students see relationships and connections between elements of what they are learning. They are fun and increase student learning motivation.

Organizers also help students retain what they are learning longer because they can remember the information in visual form.

Here are two graphic organizers that you might consider using with your students. Click the titles below to download your sample organizers

You can also find many more great graphic organizers on the web or in teaching supply stores.

Learn more about teaching reading in Literacy Strategies for Grades 4-12: Reinforcing the Threads of Reading.

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Making Connections – Seeing Relationships

Students who have difficulty seeing relationships may also have trouble drawing conclusions, making predictions or drawing inferences. Teachers can help students develop their abilities to see patterns and relationships by giving students many opportunities to classify and visualize data. Classification activities can be as simple as asking students to create a simple wheel with spokes to generating a complex concept map. Once students have organized the information, be sure to have them explain the relationships and why they organized the data in the way they did.