STRENGTHENING WRITING WITH GRAPHIC
ORGANIZERS AND COOPERATIVE LEARNING
Darlene Small
he prognosis for students’ success in
the 21st Century is providing them with
opportunities to be active instead of passive in
their learning. One way to accomplish this is
through cooperative learning (Uchida, Centron,
& McKenzie, 1996). A second way to accomplish
active learning is through the use of graphic
organizers designed to organize prior knowledge
and learned content (Dunstun, 1992). Teachers
are the most important aspect in helping students
become more active learners in today’s
classrooms (Gillies, 2006).
Graphic organizers are visual ways for
students to organize information into an easy to
understand format, and they provide students
with a map for connecting prior knowledge (Dye,
2000). McMackin and Witherell (2005) reported
that the use of graphic organizers help students
assimilate and expand their thoughts about texts.
When graphic organizers are incorporated with
Six-Trait Writing and writing process
instruction, students show great improvement in
their writing skills (James, Abbott, &
Greenwood, 2001). Furthermore, Kang (2004)
noted the use of