Literature Search
11 Best Summary Graphic Organizer Templates
Discover the top 11 Summary Graphic Organizer templates to streamline your note-taking and enhance comprehension.
Sep 5, 2024
Consider you have a paper due next week, and you’ve already chosen a topic, but you haven’t even begun the writing process. If you’re like most students, this is the point where panic kicks in. As you begin your literature search for sources, you might come across dozens of promising research articles. But instead of feeling relieved, you’re suddenly overwhelmed. What will you do with all this information? How will you organize it?
Will you even be able to write this paper on time? If this scenario sounds familiar, you’re not alone. Summary graphic organizers can help you tackle overwhelming amounts of information. In this guide, we’ll explore how summary graphic organizers can help you efficiently write research papers and create amazing study material with AI.
Otio’s AI research and writing partner can help you achieve these goals with ease. This innovative tool can cut your research time in half by creating incredible summaries of large amounts of information so you can better organize your notes and write your paper faster.
Table Of Contents
What Is A Summary Graphic Organizer
A summary graphic organizer functions as a visual aid that helps condense and arrange
information from a text or topic into a more focused and structured format. It usually includes charts, diagrams, or other visual elements that break down detailed information into key points, main ideas, and supporting details. Summary graphic organizers can come in many shapes and forms, including:
Mind Maps
A visual representation that starts with a central idea and branches out with related concepts or points.
Venn Diagrams
Overlapping circles that help compare and contrast different ideas.
Flowcharts
Visual aids that illustrate sequential steps or events in a process or narrative.
T-Charts
Two-column charts that help compare two aspects of a topic, such as pros and cons.
Story Maps
Graphic organizers that outline elements of a story, like characters, setting, plot, conflict, and resolution. Summary graphic organizers are important tools in educational settings, where they help students analyze and summarize reading material, organize their thoughts, and improve comprehension. They also work well in presentations and reports, allowing authors to convey information clearly and concisely.
How Do Summary Graphic Organizers Work?
Summary graphic organizers work by visually breaking down detailed information into smaller, more manageable chunks. First, a reader identifies a text’s main ideas and supporting details. Next, they transfer this information onto a summary graphic organizer to create a visual representation of the material.
This helps reduce redundancy, eliminate clutter, and create clear summaries that improve overall understanding. Summary graphic organizers not only help readers summarize information, but also improve memory recall and retention.
Purpose of A Summary Graphic Organizer
Summary graphic organizers help make difficult information easier to comprehend. When students summarize, they create a concise version of a text or topic in their own words. Summary graphic organizers provide a visual representation for this process.
Instead of writing an outline or starting a summary with a blank page, students can fill in the boxes of a graphic organizer to help them get started. This approach often reduces anxiety associated with summarizing, especially for struggling readers.
How Summary Graphic Organizers Enhance Comprehension
A summary graphic organizer aids comprehension by providing a visual way to identify, analyze, and illustrate the relationships between important ideas. This process helps learners not only understand what they are reading but also remember the information for future use.
The Structure of Summary Graphic Organizers Supports Writing and Studying
Summary graphic organizers have a defined structure that helps students systematically reduce and organize information. These graphic organizers provide a clear framework for writing summaries, making it easier for students to transition from reading to writing. Summary graphic organizers also help students study for tests by facilitating the reduction and organization of large amounts of information.
How Summary Graphic Organizers Encourage Critical Thinking
Creating a summary graphic organizer requires critical thinking skills. As students begin to fill in the sections of the graphic organizer, they must analyze the information, determine what is most important, and organize it in a logical way. This process helps students develop higher order thinking skills they can transfer to other tasks and subjects.
Using Summary Graphic Organizers for Collaborative Learning
Summary graphic organizers can be used as a collaborative learning strategy to help students from diverse backgrounds build knowledge and create a shared understanding of content. When used in group settings, summary graphic organizers can help students collaborate by providing a shared visual framework to discuss and compare their understanding of the material.
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What Are The 5 Types of Graphic Organizer Examples?
1. Unpacking the Circle Map Graphic Organizer
The circle map graphic organizer is an ideal tool for brainstorming an idea or topic using related information. A circle map consists of a large circle with another circle inside, where the main topic or idea takes center stage. Surrounding it is the larger circle where corresponding ideas flow. As the second circle fills up, connections and definitions grow organically and visually.
In the second circle, any type of wording can define the main idea; nouns, adjectives or even phrases. Preschoolers can also use the circle map to learn simple concepts like colors and shapes. For example, the triangle shape. The word "triangle" goes in the center, and surrounding it are things that have a triangle shape. The outer circle can even include how a triangle makes them feel. Circle maps are great for brainstorming at the very beginning of an idea. You can use it on a whiteboard for a group brainstorm session.
With the help of a circle map, great ideas can begin to take shape, and eventually become complete and complex plans. You can also use a circle map to get the ball rolling with a newly created team! If the team members don’t know each other very well, a circle map exercise can break the ice and get them to open up about their ideas. Use the interior circle to ask, “What do we want to achieve with this project?” and watch the interaction flourish.
2. Exploring the Spider Map Graphic Organizer
The spider map graphic organizer defines a main topic with specific descriptive connections. In this instance, the center circle stems off to other circles that surround it, creating a visual image of a spider. Each connected leg and circle will include a defining adjective or phrase. The difference between a circle map and a spider map is that the circle map is more suited for a brainstorming stage, while the spider map is better for defining a topic in detail.
In schools, the spider map makes a regular appearance in science classrooms. Students learn to define new lessons visually, by defining the main topic with a spider map. For example, consider the subject of animal families. The center circle is mammals and the surrounding circles represent characteristics like give birth, live young, have fur, etc. In a marketing setting, you can use a spider map to define an audience persona. In the middle circle, we state the general idea of the persona, such as "a multiracial millennial male."
In the surrounding circles, we add defining adjectives like works for himself, lives in the city, considers his friends his family, and more. Another use for a spider map is for goal setting. There are a couple of ways to do this. One is to figure out a set of goals in a timeframe, like the spider map example above on yearly goals. The other idea is to map out why you want to complete a certain goal. For example, "Why do I need a new website?" can go in the center. The surrounding circles can include things like the design is boring and dated or the UX is not working very well. This can then help sort out the exact things that you need to change on your website!
3. Navigating the Idea Wheel Graphic Organizer
The idea wheel is like a mixture of the circle map and the spider map. This graphic organizer works for brainstorming and organizing ideas at the same time. The center of the chart holds the main topic which is being studied and around it there can be other circles or shapes, a sectioned larger circle or connected bubbles.
The purpose of an idea wheel is to organize information hierarchically or as a sequence. Thoughts are added around the main idea in specific sections, and then explained inside the same circle or with a shape stemming out. Idea wheels are good for freestyle brainstorming and organizing information about a topic. It helps with taking notes while doing research or getting an idea of the bigger picture.
4. Getting to Know the Idea Web Graphic Organizer
The ideal web graphic organizer is a combination of two spider maps. It's basically a comparison organizer that defines differences and similarities between topics. In an idea web, the two central circles contain the main ideas. Stemming out from both are circles of two types. In the two first stemmed circles are the shared similarities.
Towards the sides are the circles that define the differences. This type of organizer is perfect for situations in which concepts or ideas need a visual comparison. School students use idea webs for courses like Language Arts. They compare characters, situations and parts of the story, making it all easier to grasp. Another situation in which an idea map could come in handy is when making decisions. If you have to choose between two solutions to a problem, an idea web can help you make a final decision.
By comparing and contrasting visually, the option becomes more clear. In the same way, an idea web can be a slide inside a presentation. It can show a comparison between concepts. Idea webs can also work really well as infographics. The layout of the circles doesn’t need to follow a strict grid. Get creative with organizing the circles as long as they're still understandable.
5. Digging Into the Concept Map Graphic Organizer
Very similar to an idea web is the concept map. This type of graphic organizer can analyze one single topic instead of two or more topics at once. A concept map and an idea web look very similar with circles stemming out from the center. The difference is that an idea web is for comparing while a concept map is for brainstorming and organizing. Concept maps sometimes stem out in so many directions that they end up looking really complicated.
These types of graphic organizers are good for many stages of content production. From the messy brainstorm stage to the more structured hierarchical organization. This type of organizational chart usually ends up very large and complex. It's more suited for personal use than for an infographic or presentation. Although, a concept map is sometimes used for data visualizations that show connections between topics.
11 Best Summary Graphic Organizer Templates
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Researchers, students, and other knowledge workers today suffer from content overload. The issue with content overload is that there is so much information available that, rather than helping, it hinders productivity. Knowledge workers can no longer read everything available on a topic and expect to produce high-quality work. Instead, they need to collect, organize, and synthesize pertinent information to support their writing.
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2. Fiction Summary: Summarizing Works of Fiction
Summarizing fictional texts helps students sift through content and identify the most important information. Often, summarizing fiction requires that students zero in on the main characters, the setting, the conflict, explanation of the problem, and how the problem is resolved. Using a graphic organizer to break down the plot in this manner helps students focus on the pertinent information and avoid extraneous details.
3. Story Summary: Using “Somebody Wanted But So Then” to Summarize
An additional way to set up a graphic organizer for students to summarize a piece of fiction is to guide students by using the words “somebody”, “wanted”, “but”, “so”, and “then”. Each word can be broken down even further. For example: Somebody: Who is the main character? Wanted: What did the main character want? But: What was the problem? So: How was the problem solved? Then: How did the story end?
4. Plot Summary: Crafting a Plot Summary
Crafting a plot summary is simply a plot diagram in written form. Students start with the exposition, identifying the main character and setting. Next, students move to the rising action where they record the problem and events relating to the problem. After recording the rising action, students identify the climax, or the point in the story where the problem is at its highest point of tension.
Following the climax, students record the events that move the conflict toward a resolution, also known as the falling action. Finally, students are ready to record the resolution. Using a plot diagram as a graphic organizer provides students with an excellent visual representation of the summary.
5. Chapter Summary: Summarizing a Chapter of a Book
Summarizing a book chapter requires students to practice sorting events in chronological order. Setting up the graphic organizer in a way that moves students progressively forward in time works well. Additionally, incorporating transition words such as “first”, “next”, “after that”, and “finally” will help to keep students on track and focused on major content included in the chapter.
6. Sequence Summary: Summarizing by Sequencing Events in a Text
The ability to sequence events in a text is a key comprehension strategy, especially for narrative texts. A sequence summary graphic organizer follows the sequence of events laid out in the text. Students are guided through the beginning, middle, and end of the story with a series of prompts. For example: Beginning: Describe the main characters and the setting. Middle: Explain the problem and things that happen because of it. End: Explain how the problem is resolved and how the story ends.
7. Non-Fiction Summary: Summarizing Informational Texts
When summarizing nonfiction or informational text, we want students to be able to identify the topic, main idea, and supporting details. Students should also be able to provide textual evidence for each detail. A graphic organizer will help to scaffold students through the entire process. Ideally, students will understand that each piece is a more focused version of the last.
8. Biography Summary: Summarizing Biographical Texts
When students are writing a summary based on a biography, it is helpful to have a graphic organizer that focuses on the 5Ws (who, what, when, where, why). Taken a step further, each “W” can be broken down into a specific question: Who is the person? What did this person achieve? When did this person become well known? Where did this person live and work? Why is this person important? How will this person be remembered?
9. Article Summary: Summarizing Articles
Aside from including the article title, author, publication, and date, it is important for students to be able to identify the topic, main idea, and supporting details. The graphic organizer should start with the main idea and narrow down from there. That way, students will be guided in the right direction.
10. GIST Summary: The GIST Approach to Summarizing
A GIST summary requires students to paint a broad picture of the text. Students will identify and record who, what, when, where, why, and how. Next, students use the information recorded for each of the 5Ws to craft a one-sentence summary of the text.
11. 5 Sentence Summary: A Summary Template for Any Text
The five-sentence summary graphic organizer will work for fiction or nonfiction text. Each portion of the template moves students through the content of the text. Students begin with the topic or main idea, record three important details or facts, and finish with the wrap-up or resolution. The five-sentence summary works well for short pieces of literature or informational text.
How To Make A Graphic Organizer
Kickoff with Google Sheets
Launch Google Sheets and create a new blank spreadsheet. You can do this by clicking on the "+ New/Blank" button in the upper-left corner of the screen.
Organize Your Columns
Next, start building your graphic organizer by adding your categories to the first row or column. These categories will serve as the column headers for your graphic organizer.
Make It Yours
Use the formatting tools in Google Sheets to customize the appearance of your graphic organizer. You can change the font, font size, color, and background color of your text to make it more visually appealing. Play around with the format until you find a style that works for you.
Fill ‘Er Up
Enter your research notes under each category in the corresponding column. You can add text, numbers, and even images to your sheet. Continue to add notes as your research progresses, adding new categories or columns as needed.
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Researchers, students, and knowledge workers today face severe content overload. It seems like every day there is more research, news and commentary published about COVID-19, and it can be overwhelming. Otio solves this problem. This AI-native workspace helps you to make sense of literature to get through your academic workflow faster. Otio helps you to collect, extract, and create. First, you collect a wide range of data sources, from bookmarks, tweets, and extensive books to YouTube videos.
Next, Otio helps you extract key takeaways with detailed AI-generated notes. Finally, you can create draft outputs using the sources you’ve collected. For researchers, Otio helps you to go from reading list to first draft faster. Along with this, Otio also helps you write research papers/essays faster. Here are our top features that are loved by researchers: AI-generated notes on all bookmarks (Youtube videos, PDFs, articles, etc.), Otio enables you to chat with individual links or entire knowledge bases, just like you chat with ChatGPT, as well as AI assisted writing.
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