Using Draw, Shade, Link and Paste to Scaffold Graphic Organizers

Carolyn Boyles
Oct 27, 2008

Four functions found in most word processing programs can be used to scaffold graphic organizers and make them more accessible to students of varying readiness and experience. The illustrations in this article all use these functions from Microsoft Word (MS Word) and are available on any computer with this software.

Graphic organizers are powerful tools for helping students organize information. Students make and remember relationships between the sets of information and, importantly, see the information the way that is most connected to the area of study. With this power, graphic organizers need to be accessible to all students - even those who may not be able to read the background information from the same source as the rest of the class.

For a simple KWL constructed by the teacher with the Draw tool in MS Word, additions can be made to assist students. The pictures are clues to: 1) what I already know - what is in my head, 2) what I have questions about, and 3) what I learned. They can be proportionately smaller with a full sized organizer. Picture clues can be added to any organizer that is either created in or scanned into MS Word. In this example, the pictures were copied and pasted directly into the organizer to give the students a reminder of what was being requested.

Another function in MS Word is the ability to shade sections of a form or table which would serve to reduce the number of entries or places where a student would respond.

In the organizer below,in which students complete entries related to the life cycle, the teacher could give some students the one with shaded areas to reduce the number of responses needed to complete the organizer. 

The next organizer illustrates several scaffolding strategies combined to give access to students who may have varying levels of readiness. The goal should always be to provide only the scaffolding necessary for each student to give them an alternate way to interact with grade level content or alternate ways to show what they know.

In MS Word, links can be created to alternate sources for the
information required in the organizer. The requirement would be that the organizer be available electronically with a computer that has been linked to the selected sources (the internet or a document that has been saved onto the computer into an accessible file). In the pull down menu under Insert is a command for Hyperlinks. The link has been made to a version of the content that can be reviewed so that the student can complete the organizer. It may be the same information that has been presented in class or a version that is at a lower reading level.

Another scaffold in the organizer shown below is a word bank to assist students who may have difficulty retrieving the words needed to complete the task. They can use the word bank to choose their words and then write them into the correct space. They can also cut them out and paste them into the space if given a paper copy of the organizer. 

This article is not about how to use graphic organizers or whether to use them. It is about how to scaffold them for a variety of learner needs. Graphic organizers help students organize information and make sense of it. They give students a picture of the information, which aids in memory. Because of their value, it becomes even more important to make sure that all students have access to this learning experience.

For more ideas check out the Learning-Focused publication Scaffolding with Technology.