"Using Graphic Organizer: Informally Assessing Struggling Writers"

Abstract

Informal assessment can be easily added into a teacher’s day, because it can be a task that is already being done. There are a plethora of graphic organizers that can be utilized for the task of informal assessment for writers. Teachers are able to give a mentor text with a prompt or simply a question and see what skills their learners most need instruction on. This article advocates for the use of graphic organizers as a means of informally assessing students writing. Evidence for the use of graphic organizers, informal assessments, and praise are numerous. Together these evidence based practices are able to help students improve their writing.

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One teacher advocating for the use of graphic organizers as informal assessments as a way to make the beast of writing assessment less scary.

Literacy is a necessary skill to be successful both academically and in everyday life. Literacy instruction is given much attention in schools to help learners become independent and proficient in reading and writing. We utilize language and differing literacy skills daily to navigate interactions with others and take in visual information. However, if you have a hearing loss you most likely do not have equity with your hearing peers in attaining these, often times, incidental skills. The average Deaf or hard of hearing (DHH) high school student graduates at a fourth grade reading level (Traxler, 2000). Literacy is the ability to read and write, so naturally a lower reading level will affect competence in writing.

Pause and Ponder • What are the current ways I am assessing my struggling writers? • How do I ascertain a starting point for instruction when the needs are many? • How can insert academic praise for learners who are used to only getting effort praise? • What graphic organizers do I utilize right now and in what capacity do I use them?

Why Graphic Organizers?

In my classroom experience I have seen all of my DHH students struggle enormously with writing. Assessing it can cause any teacher, general education or otherwise, to shake in their boots, I advocate for an informal assessment utilizing a graphic organizer. DHH students need to learn autonomy in their writing, but often do not know where to start. Giving a graphic organizer gives them a loose structure and some simple prompts to complete. Allowing for some aid in structure will help a discerning teacher see what the highest area of need is for his or her students. Does the learner struggle most with the process of writing, i.e. organization of their thoughts? Does your learner struggle most with the grammatical side of writing? Does your learner struggle with supporting claims with evidence? The list goes on. I propose that utilizing a graphic organizer as an informal assessment of writing needs could show a starting point for instruction, especially for struggling writers.

Graphic organizer can be defined as, “a visual and graphic display that depicts the relationships between facts, terms, and or ideas within a learning task. Graphic organizers are also sometimes referred to as knowledge maps, concept maps, story maps, cognitive organizers, advance organizers, or concept diagrams.” (Hall, T., & Strangman, N., 2002, p. 8.). Research shows that graphic organizers provide:

• an overview of what is being learned
• a resource to place new vocabulary and ideas into structured patterns
• a clue for necessary information
• a visual aid for verbal and written information
• a clear review tool (Merkley & Jefferies (2001)

This list is true of student in the general education population and in the Deaf and Hard of Hearing education population as well (Beal-Alvarez & Easterbrooks, 2013). When writers are hesitant to begin graphic organizers can provide a helping hand in the process.

Utilization in the Classroom

When performing an informal assessment of writing I general do not pre-teach. I want see what my student is capable of without my help first. This is not an assessment of their ability to follow my example, but to see what writing skills they need instruction in. For example, Student A was utilizing a “hamburger” graphic organizer (figure 1) to see if he could structure a paragraph with a visual aid and prompting.

Figure 1 Hamburger Graphic Organizer

He was able to come up with a first sentence about the topic he had been researching, but as unable to come up with supporting details. This helped me realize he was struggling to expand on his ideas and find/cite textual evidence that went along with his claim. I recognized it was not so much the structuring of the paragraph or organizational piece that he was struggling with it was the expansion and explanation of his ideas. This gave me a better starting point than simply teaching him paragraph structure.

Figure 2 Opinion Graphic Organizer

 However, when informally assessing Student T, I utilized a mentor text that was at his reading level. We read through the text and discussed it briefly. I asked him a few guided questions while looking at the graphic organizer. This learner tends to shut down if he is confused and needs a bit more guided talk. I introduced the opinion graphic organizer I had created to him (pictured in figure 2) to him. I explained the differing parts of the organizer and told him I wanted him to respond to what we had just read and talked through.

 He began to work, but he needed many guided questions from me to continue. In utilizing a mentor text with him and seeing his struggle to write about his thoughts. Even though he discussed it fine with me verbally (utilizing sign language), the actual process of pulling out his thoughts and ideas to write was challenging for him. This helped me recognize he was not struggling with having an opinion or understanding the text. He was struggling to process and formulate ideas through written expression. Without utilizing the graphic organizer to informally assess his skills, I could have spent valuable instruction time instructing him on the wrong skills.

Why Use Informal Assessment?

According to Dr. Maria Araceli Ruiz-Primo in her article titled Informal Formative Assessment: The Role of Instructional Dialogues in Assessing Students’ Learning, informal assessments can easily be used by practitioners in classrooms, because much of what is already being done classrooms can be an informal assessment. Informal assessment can be used in many daily activities:

• verbal responses (answering of a question)
• written products (writing in a graphic organizer)
• observational evidence (watching them complete a math problem/science experiment)
• Non-verbal cues (facial expressions)

Informal assessment are a fantastic tool, because they are easy to implement. A teacher can simply do what they are already doing with a more watchful eye. In a day and age of a constant call for standardized testing we must also remember the basics of everyday learning and instructing. Using these informal assessments to check in with students and inform instruction is crucial both in the general education setting, but especially in the special education setting where many students may not show their understanding best in the typical high stakes testing format.You can also use this informal assessment time to invest in your students writing by talking them through what you are seeing, room for improvement and academic success.

What Benefits can be had by Real Time Assessment?

Feedback can be simply thought of as what you give after a work is completed--suggestions, praise, assessment, etc. Utilizing a graphic organizer to informally assess students writing can providea great opportunity to give immediate feedback. Feedback should be goal referenced, tangible and transparent, actionable, user friendly, timely, ongoing and consistent (Wiggins, 2012). Informal assessment can be all of these things, but using a graphic organizer in a one-on-one exchange is not simply timely, it is immediate. According to Wiggins (2012), teachers need to “figure out ways to ensure that students get more timely feedback and opportunities to use it while the attempt and effects are still fresh in their minds (p. 3).” Feed back can be utilized with in the framework of graphic organizers and informal assessment.

When working with Student A and Student T as discussed above I was able to ask guiding questions and help them find ideas or evidences in their differentiated texts. We discussed what they needed to work on. I also was able to give them a balance of both academic and effort praise.

Academic praise is focusing on the actual skill and performance of a student’s work, for example, “I noticed that you are using your text to pull out information, and that is exactly what you need to do!” Whereas effort praise is praising a student’s “college try.” Both are beneficial, but they must be balanced. Students need to see that they are competent in some areas even though they are struggling in others, but they also need to be commended for not giving up (Hale 2018).

Giving timely feeding back and a balance of academic and effort praise enables students to see what they need to work on and remind them they are competent. It is easy to quickly see all of the errors for my DHH students. Language is their deficit area and they feel that every day in academic settings. Focusing on praise first and then giving feedback will help them see their weaknesses in light of their strengths.

Closing

Often struggling writers feel subpar because they can see they are not where they should be. My language hungry students often tell me, “I am bad at writing. I don’t understand English.” However, instructors have the privilege to lead them out of the learning pit and encourage them toward a growth mindset.

Utilizing graphic organizers as a way of informal assessment helps us to pinpoint where to start with writers in our classroom. Deaf and hearing learners, special education students, and general education students alike can benefit from the visual and organizational aid of an organizer. We are more able to give timely feedback and praise as educators and strengthen our instruction when we have information on where to start.

Take Action! • Find or create a graphic organizer to informally assess your students. • Give timely feedback. • Inform your instruction through your evaluation of their graphic organizer. • Watch struggling readers gain tools to succeed.

More to explore: Writing Graphic Organizers: http://www.readingrockets.org/article/graphic-organizers-help-kids-writing https://www.scholastic.com/teachers/blog-posts/genia-connell/graphic-organizers-personal-narratives/ https://www.dailyteachingtools.com/free-graphic-organizers-w.html Using Graphic Organizers in Different Content Areas: Fisher, D., Frey, N., The Uses and Misuses of Graphic Organizers in Content Area Learning. (2018). Reading Teacher, 71(6), 763–766. https://doi-org.libproxy.lib.ilstu.edu/10.1002/trtr.1693

Literature Cited

Beal-Alvarez, J. & Easterbrooks, S. R., (2013). Literacy instruction for students who are deaf and hard of hearing. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.

Hale, E., (2018). Academic Praise in Conferences: A Key for Motivating Struggling Writers. Reading Teacher, 71(6), 651–658. https://doiorg.libproxy.lib.ilstu.edu/10.1002/trtr.1664

Hall, T., & Strangman, N. (2002). Graphic organizers. National Center on Accessing the General Curriculum, 1-8.

Merkley, D. M., & Jefferies, D. (2001). Guidelines for implementing a graphic organizer. Reading Teacher, (4), 350. Retrieved from https://search-ebscohost-com.libproxy.lib.ilstu.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=edsbl&AN=RN088730240&site=eds-live&scope=site

Ruiz-Primo, M. A. (2011). Informal formative assessment: The role of instructional dialogues in assessing students’ learning. Studies in Educational Evaluation, 37, 15-24.

Wiggins, G. (2012). Seven keys to effective feedback. Educational Leadership. 70(1), 10-16.