Graphic Organizers For Problem Solving.

 I love using graphic organizers in my math classes, especially with the students who struggle because graphic organizers help students think.

Most graphic organizers help students separate the important from the not so important information.  Further more, graphic organizers can be used to help solve word problems.

If you have a graphic organizers divided into quarters with a small rhombus in the center, like the Frayer model graphic organizers,  you can label the top left one with "What do I need to find?"  The top right with "What do I need to do?".  The lower left is labeled "How I solved it." and the lower right has "My answer and how I know its right."  In the center, is the problem where they do the math.

This type of graphic organizer requires students to determine what is being asked so they don't just throw numbers together in the hopes they did it correctly.  It also offers the chance to try out different strategies to work the problem.  Once the answer is found, they have to explain how they found it and  why they know its correct.  They also a chance to make sure they've gone over the problem to make sure they got it all.

The big advantage this graphic organizer has over the traditional way of doing things is that it is not done in the same linear listing most students learn.  This graphic organizer has the understand the problem, devise a plan, carry out the plan, and check your work but not in the same order as the material is usually taught so students are less likely to misapply the process and can jot ideas down as they occur.

Students are able to work in which ever quadrant they need to without following the hierarchy normally taught.  Furthermore, the organization of this graphic organizer allows the teacher to check their thinking and their work, making it easier to identify where their thinking might be off or confused.  It is much easier to identify where student confusion lies.

Another advantage of this type of graphic organizer is that it makes it easier for students to answer open ended questions on state tests.   Usually low performing students usually are unable to show their work in more than one area while average students often have difficulty in organizing their thoughts and high achieving students skip steps in their work.  This graphic organizer helps students produce better work and achieve higher scores.

We use graphic organizers for most material in math but how many of us actually have students use one for problem solving?  I'd like to say I do but that isn't the truth.  This is one of those things I'll be using in my math classes for everyone because even the higher preforming students often struggle with problem solving because it requires more than the standard algorithm.

Let me know what you think, I'd love to hear, have a great day.