Outcome Graphic Organizer
An Overview
This strategy is a tool in which students use a visual representation to organize details and the outcome (Miller & Veatch, 2011).
This strategy is a tool in which students use a visual representation to organize details and the outcome (Miller & Veatch, 2011).
- The basic premise of this strategy is to break up the reading into sections, record details for each section, and record the outcome for each section.
- It is important to note that the details described in the reading section do not always determine the outcome. For example, students describe climbers of Mount Everest in an outcome graphic organizer. One section talks about how the climbers got frostbite, there were snowstorms, and there was a lack of oxygen and yet the climbers continued to climb higher (Miller & Veatch, 2011). Therefore, it was not a logical cause and effect relationship shown by the details in the text. However, students may start discussion to determine the cause for continuing to climb the mountain higher (effect) despite their circumstances.
- An outcome graphic organizer can also be used to show a more obvious cause and effect relationship. For instance, if the gazelle population diminishes, the lion will be forced to find other food sources and if they cannot find another food source, their population will also diminish.
- For both, the organizer helps show the relationship between events and helps students make connections to other events in the text (Robb, 2003).
Social Studies Example
Use the outcome organizer to note details and discover the outcome.
|
Science Example
Use an outcome organizer to help guide students into seeing relationships between the cause of a phenomenon and what the effects can be.
|
The above video explains 4 different types of cause and effect graphic organizers: simple cause and effect, multiple causes, multiple effect, and cause and effect chains. The presenter notes that cause and effect relationships can be quite complex.
|
The above shows a variety of different cause and effect graphic organizers. It also discusses signal words to look for when finding relationships and also the key questions to ask when looking for those relationships.
|
Writing Component
- The outcome graphic organizer is an effective way to "draw evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research," as noted by the middle school common core writing standard.
- Students draw evidence by writing in the details or causes in their graphic organizer. This then helps students to draw an outcome or effect.
- In fact, students can use these graphic organizers to aid in reflection and analysis in a paper. It could be a good preview activity to organize the information before students write a report.