Since the release of the Common Core State Standards in June 2010, states across the country are recognizing how the outlined requirements of this initiative support high-quality education standards and are adopting them as their own. Developed by the National Governors Association and the Council of Chief State School Officers, the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) have provided a consistent framework of high expectations and goals in forty-eight states, helping all students develop key learning skills and content knowledge for success in college and the workforce.
Through the collaboration of school administrators, experts and teachers on various best practices and models from around the world, the Standards currently set requirements for English Language Arts and Mathematics.
The English Language Arts (ELA) Standards focus on thinking and communication skill sets that are not only necessary for English subjects but all content areas, such as history and science. These Standards are divided into four strands: Reading, Writing, Speaking and Listening, and Using Language. Each strand comes with an outline of requirements for grades K-12 that set expectations a student should meet by the end of that school year.
Today I’d like to take a closer look at the Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts and how visual thinking and learning methods can help your students meet these requirements and prepare for a successful future.
What Does Visual Thinking and Learning Have to do With the Common Core State Standards?
Visual thinking and learning represents a body of techniques that are ways of stimulating thinking and internalizing knowledge. These techniques have been proven to help students write and learn more effectively. Once these skills are developed they can be used and applied across curriculum areas and increase learning effectiveness. Graphic organizers, concept maps, mind maps, webs, and idea maps are just a few of the broad types of visual thinking methods in which ideas, data and all forms of information are associated with images and text and represented graphically; this stimulates thinking, increases comprehension, organization and learning. Outlining is another visual thinking technique that visually groups key points and sub-points, making it easy to identify and organize related information for research, writing and reading for meaning.
The use of visual thinking and learning software tools that combine visual thinking techniques with outlining and organization, further facilitate learning the skills and knowledge set forth in the English Language Arts Standards. Research in educational theory and cognitive psychology has proven how beneficial visual learning is and how it ranks among the very best methods for teaching; it only makes sense that it goes hand-in-hand with the Common Core State Standards and is a learning method that can help students meet a significant percentage of the English Language Arts Standards.
By using visual thinking and learning tools, a student is able to:
- Make abstract ideas visible and concrete
- Make connections and see relationships between ideas
- Organize thoughts, analyze and clarify information
- Connect prior knowledge and new concepts to build understanding
- Develop clear writing through the planning and drafting to editing, revising, and publishing stages
- Communicate, share and present knowledge effectively
Visual Learning and Reading
Strong reading skills are not only necessary for success in English Language Arts subjects, but in all classes and outside of school. Visual learning can be applied to gaining understanding of literature and non-fictional materials across all subject areas.
According to the ELA Reading Strand requirements, a student is expected to:
- Discern meaning, theme, plot and more from the text
- Make connections among ideas and between texts
- Evaluate to interpret and understand text
The following example demonstrates how using computerized graphic organizers can help fulfill these reading requirements:
A student can use a visual thinking tool, like the one above, to determine what themes, characters and ideas to focus on when reading, then add details and examples to analyze and draw conclusions about the text.
Visual Learning and Writing
Visual thinking techniques are also a powerful way to help improve students’ writing skills and fulfill the main writing requirements in the ELA Standards. Visual thinking software tools are excellent for pre-writing, brainstorming, planning, organizing and starting first drafts. With their graphic nature, visual thinking tools provide a more meaningful and natural way for visual learners of all levels to present knowledge and demonstrate learning. By using a visual thinking tool, you can help your students accomplish the main requirements of the ELA Writing Strand.
According to the ELA Writing Strand requirements, a student is expected to:
- Plan, draft, revise, edit and publish writing
- Develop a reading-writing connection
- Research to build and present knowledge
The following example demonstrates how a visual thinking tool, a graphic organizer, fulfills these writing requirements:
With this visual thinking tool, a student can begin the writing process by brainstorming on their topic. Through their research, students can continue adding on to their graphic organizer, mind map, or outline; this helps them structure their thoughts and comprehend the information, while also informing the teacher of their progress and understanding of the material.
How You Can Incorporate Visual Learning and Thinking with the English Language Arts Standards in Your Classroom
Inspiration® 9, Kidspiration® 3 and Webspiration Classroom™ service help students excel in reading and writing and achieve over 85% of the ELA Common Core State Standards!
Kidspiration, for grades K-5, develops thinking, literacy and numeracy skills. In reading and writing, Kidspiration strengthens word recognition, vocabulary, comprehension, and written expression. With Kidspiration’s Picture view and Writing view, students combine pictures, text and audio to develop comprehension, organize ideas, express thoughts and create stories.
Inspiration, for grades 6-12, helps students brainstorm, structure their thoughts and communicate ideas with graphic organizers, concept maps, webs and mind maps that can then be transformed into an organized outline. Mirroring the Standards, the Outline view helps students clarify their thinking in a more developed writing format, completing the reading and writing process. Inspiration 9 also addresses the Speaking and Listening ELA Standards by allowing students to create and deliver oral presentations with its Presentation Manager.
And with Webspiration Classroom, our new online, collaborative web service, students have anywhere, anytime access to work on and complete assignments and projects. Not only can they brainstorm, develop their ideas and write using graphic organizers, webs, concept maps and outlines, but they can also collaborate and communicate with peers on projects and essays, fulfilling the Speaking and Listening requirements of the Standards!
I encourage educators everywhere to take advantage of visual thinking, outlining and learning methodologies as they teach their students to think, comprehend and write more effectively. These techniques, when used through technology, can engage students in the process of learning and prepare them for success. To learn more, I invite you to download a presentation about visual learning and the Common Core State Standards. How are you using visual thinking strategies and outlining tools in your classroom to help students achieve the skills and content knowledge laid out in the ELA Common Core State Standards?
Thanks for stopping by!
Mona Westhaver
President and Co-founder, Inspiration Software, Inc.
