Daily Tips for Families

Today's Tip for Families

12-05-2023

Diagrams Help Students Manage Writing Ideas

In order to write well, students need to be able to organize their ideas. Many students need help with this. Just jotting things down in any order is not enough.

Graphic organizers—diagrams that show relationships between ideas—can help your teen organize thoughts effectively.

Share these three common types of organizers with your student:

Venn diagrams. These are helpful when your teen is writing a “compare and contrast” essay. Comparing tells how things are alike. Contrasting tells how they are different. To make a Venn diagram, your teen should draw two large, overlapping circles. In the distinct part of each circle (the green or blue areas in the illustration above), your teen should write down the things that are unique to that thing. In the space where the two circles overlap (the red area), your student should write down how the two things are the same.
Flow charts. These are helpful when your teen is writing a narrative. A narrative tells a story about something that has happened. To make a flow chart, your teen should draw a series of boxes, with a right-pointing arrow in between each box. In the box farthest to the left, your student should write down the first event in the story. The next event goes in the box to the right, and so on.
Webs. These are helpful when your teen wants to identify a main idea and supporting details. Your teen should draw a large circle. Inside it, your student should write the theme of an essay, for example. In smaller circles surrounding the large one, your teen should write down the details that support the theme. Then, your teen can draw lines between them to show relationships.

Brought to you by:

Mott-Regent Public School

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