Tools for Thought: Graphic Organizers for Your Classroom

If you are a new teacher or a veteran this book is a great resource to help with notes, graphic organizers and literature ideas. The templates are user friendly and explained very well. A must for the classroom!

Tools for Thought: Graphic Organisers for Your Classroom
by Jim Burke

Books on graphic organisers & visual tools have generally fascinated me for more than two decades, probably in the light of my own personal interests in visual thinking. Also, my strategy consultancy work with adults & teens in helping them to navigate reading materials is a contributing factor. I have already amassed a large collection of them in my personal library.

Strategically & tactically, I am a avid practitioner of visual thinking. When I read, I always annotate in the margins. I also strenuously use the MindManager Pro & SmartDraw Pro to support all my reading - & thinking - pursuits. All the interesting ideas captured in my marginal annotations - & insights from my reflections & assimilations - are alway transformed into mind-maps &/or mind-scapes.

This book has recently entered my library. It has been written by a English Language teacher. Therefore, I noted that the book has an obvious slant towards applications in language arts.

There are twenty six tools listed in the table of contents & twenty four of them are illustrated graphically in the Toolbox: Visual Directory of the Tools. Each tool has its own description, notes & examples, assessment standards as well as application possiblities. From the teaching standpoint, the inclusion of thirty two reproducible tools for classroom use is certainly an added benefit for teachers.

The 'Annotations' on page 1 is definitely not a graphic organiser. The author admitted that "it looks a little different from the other tools, yet it is no less a tool." The author's idea of incorporating such things as crayons, high-lighters, pencils, coloured pens, sticky notes & symbol codes is a refreshing change to conventional annotations.

The author's introduction of 'Visual Explanations' on page 114 is another refreshing innovation. He has based it on the work of information scientist Edward Tuft. In some way, the many examples shown resemble the 'mindscapes' as formulated by Nancy Marguiles in 'Mapping InnerSpace'. Incidentally, mindmapping created by Tony Buzan is lumped together in this section.

The graphic format of 'Vocabulary Squares' on page 124 is very useful & practical, but I believe using it in combination with an index card would be much more effective. Sentence constructions can be written on the flip side.

I am intrigued by a number of 'discrepancies' I have found in this book:

1) On page xvii, under 'Making Effective & Efficient Notes', what follows is actually a full description of 'Cornell Notes'. I am surprised that the author did not mention this fact & also did not credit it to Professor Walter Pauk of Cornell University.

2) 'Cornell Notes' is mentioned in the 'Appendices' on page viii, but it is inserted before 'Q Notes' & after 'Pyramid Notes' on that page, thus upsetting the alphabetical order of all the other graphic organisers as listed. Likewise, a reproducible form showing 'Cornell Notes' on page 159 is inserted - against the alphabetical rhythm - before 'Q Notes' on page 160 & after 'Pyramid Notes' on page 158. What is the author's rationale?

3) 'Cornell Notes' is correctly depicted on page xvii, showing the various format components: orienting information (for name, topic, date), connections column (for questions), notes column (for essential information about the suject) & Summary column (for synthesising all the noted information), as originally envisaged by Professor Pauk. The summary column, however, does not appear in the reproducible form for 'Cornell Notes' on page 159. I am quite puzzled by this omission.

I still maintain that, because of the author's English teaching background, the graphic organisers in the book will find more appropriate use in the language arts. These are generally reflected in the many book examples.

Nevertheless, I reckon that, in contrast, Jim Burke's book still surpasses two other books with a similar slant in an educational setting, & they are:

- 'Drawing Your Own Conclusions', by Fran Claggert;
- 'Going Beyond Words', by Kathy Mason;

Readers who want to explore other graphic organisers & visual tools for multi-disciplinary applicatons should explore these books:

- 'Cooperative Think Tank', Volume I & II, by James Bellanca;

Those who prefer graphic organisers &/or visual tools with a critical thinking perspective, should explore:

- 'Organising Thinking', Book I & II, by Howard Black & Sandra Parks;

For navigating scientific materials, 'Concept Mapping' & 'Vee Diagrams' as postulated by Joseph Novak in his two seminal books on the subject are definitely worth exploring.

Those who want a more spontaneous free-form approach, I guess Nancy Marguiles' mind-scapes in her book, 'Mapping Inner Space', would fit the bill.

For a technology-based system in an educational setting, David Hyerle's 'ThinkMaps' as postulated in his two books, 'Visual Tools for Constructing Knowledge' & 'A Field Guide to Using Visual Tools', are recommended, even though they have some limitations.

This is my FAVORITE teaching book. It has graphic organizers that are neither too simple nor too challenging for high school level students, and better yet, examples of how to use each. A must-have for all English teachers!

Jim Burke created (and compiled) a lot of useful graphic organizers in this book. Each organizer comes with the author's explanation and examples. The book is my most useful toolbook in my collection. It helps my teacher and student learning. Highly recommended!