Visual


 * We all know the saying, “ A picture is worth 1000 words.” Vision allows one to quickly gather information, either briefly or as a whole, to support understanding and build background knowledge.

Visual supports, such as nonlinguistic presentations and using "imagery" to make representations of knowledge, can keep students engaged and enrich learning. (Marzano, 2001). This can take a variety of forms such as mental pictures, graphics, diagrams, drawings, physical models and kinesthetic classroom activities. For example, a graphic organizer is a visual representation of concepts, knowledge, or information that can incorporate both text and pictures. Vision allows one to quickly gather information, either briefly or as a whole, to support understanding and build background knowledge. || Students who benefit from:* seeing relationships between information;
 * **Who does it help?**
 * having maps and charts to help clarify information and focus on essential information;
 * using an graphic representation to get their ideas down and organized before generating narrative or expository writing;
 * communicating through non linear strategic thinking to build meaning from pictures or models instead of words;
 * combining images (from image libraries) with text to increase comprehension or demonstrate understanding;
 * using “real images” or video to integrate current and past knowledge;
 * having information reduced so they can focus and remember information;
 * having a visual representation of relationships between concepts. ||

**STREAMING VIDEO Classroom Examples:** Math/Science Examples: Physics: High-speed camera clips demonstrate physical properties that cannot be seen with the naked eye by allowing super slow-motion playback. Try out the short clips of smoke, balloons, eggs, billiard balls, fluid mechanics, cymbals, and a falling jello cube.

Marine Sanctuary Video Library has 21 clips from submersible dives, aerial sightings, and species action including the angel shark, bat ray, spiney lobster, and sea lions. Students living in Hawaii produced a short and beautiful video on star fish and other echinoderms. More underwater creatures can be seen in images and high quality clips.

Visit volcanoes around the world in both video and image format.

NASA has 29 digital documentaries designed for K-12 on scientific principals, math, astronomy, and flight. - - - - - - - Literature Example: Knowing Poe is a rich collection on the life, times, and literature of Edgar Allen Poe, illustrated with streaming video and audio clips. Transcripts are provided for some of the video clips. - - - - - - - History Examples: The History Channel allows you to wander through the catacombs behind the Western Wall in Jerusalem, meander along the Great Wall of China, and tour Ellis Island.

Discoveryschool.com has 2 minute clips from a wide range of videos, including US history, animals, astronomy, earth science, ecology, geography, health, literature, math, plants, weather, and world history.

"Graphic organizers are valuable instructional tools. Unlike many tools that just have one purpose, graphic organizers are flexible and endless in application. One common trait found among graphic organizers is that they show the order and completeness of a student's thought process - strengths and weaknesses of understanding become clearly evident. Many graphic organizers show different aspects of an issue/problem - in close and also the big picture. Since many graphic organizers use short words or phrases, they are ideal for many types of learners, including English Language Learners with intermediate proficiency." (WriteDesign online)
 * GRAPHIC ORGANIZERS**
 * **Classroom Examples:**

There are many types of Graphic Organizers typically used in classrooms.



Some examples of commonly used in classrooms include:
 * Concept, Story, or Character Maps
 * Venn Diagram
 * K-W-L Charts (What I __K__now, __W__ant to find out, __L__earned)
 * Matrix
 * Flow Chart
 * Timeline
 * Compare/contrast
 * Spider Map

In Mrs. Roberts 4th grade classroom, students brainstorm what would be included in a good report on an animal. They list habitat, diet, behavior, and lifespan. Mrs. Roberts types the ideas into Kidspiration, displayed on a single computer. Once all ideas are listed, she switches into outline view, so that students can help to re-arrange the ideas into a sensible order. Each child can work from this outline in preparing their report, either on the computer or in hard copy.

Try out some visual displays. The VisualThesaurus online  is an interactive dictionary and thesaurus that displays the relationships between words and encourages vocabulary exploration.
 * Tips for Implementing:**

A free concept mapping tool can be downloaded from @http://cmap.ihmc.us/. CmapTools empower users to construct, navigate, share and criticize knowledge models represented as concept maps. It allows users to, among many other features, construct their Cmaps in their personal computer, share them on servers anywhere on the Internet, link their Cmaps to other Cmaps on servers, automatically create web pages of their concept maps on servers, edit their maps synchronously (at the same time) with other users on the Internet, and search the web for information relevant to a concept map. || Related Resources [|6+1Trait(TM) Writing] [|Classroom Ideas for Inspiration/Kidspiration] [|Computer-Based Study Strategies:] [|Creating Graphic Organizers Using Microsoft Word] [|Developing Metacognition] [|Graphic Organizer Graphics] [|Graphic Organizer Makers] [|Graphic Organizers and Implications for Universal Design for Learning: Curriculum Enhancement Report] [|Graphic Organizers for Science] [|Interactive Thinking Tools - Free from Intel] [|Math Graphic Organizers for Students with Disabilites] [|Rubrican] [|Schema Activation" Construction" and Application] [|Score: Schools of California Online Resources for Education] [|Structured Writing—Using Inspiration Software to Teach Paragraph Development] [|Teacher Activity Bank]