Introducing a new concept in a social studies class can be daunting at times. One year students may know a great deal about the material while the next year the concepts are foreign to students. ABC graphic organizer is a tool to elicit prior knowledge from the students and is a tool to assess students knowledge.
ABC Brainstorming Activities
Picture Walk
Teacher divides students into groups of 4 to 5. Each student receives an ABC brainstorming organizer. Teacher assigns specific pages in a social study text for students to peruse. Students are to read the pictures, headings, sub-headings, graphs, and other illustrations to get an idea of the concept.
Students record words on their brainstorming organizer related to the concept. Students place an " A " word under the "A" column. Students are allowed to have more than one word in each column. Students are not allowed to write phrases for the concept only a word that is related to the social studies concept. Ten to fifteen minutes is enough time for a picture walk.
After the activity, teacher and students come together to discuss the different ideas about the concepts. Students delete or add information related to the concept. If there is a great deal of text on one concept, divide the picture walk activity into 2 sessions.
Prior Knowledge
Teacher divides students into groups of 4 to 5. Each student receives an ABC brainstorming organizer. Students discuss the concept and decide on words that they think are related to the concept. Students fill in the ABC template with their ideas. After the activity, teacher and students come together to discuss the different ideas about the concepts. Students delete or add information related to the concept.
ABC Brainstorming Social Studies Sample
Canada
- Divide students into groups of 4 or 5 and give each student an ABC template.
- Give students 5 minutes to write any word related to Canada. British Columbia, CN Tower, and lakes are sample words for the brainstorming graphic organizer.
- Teacher brings students back to share their information with the rest of the class.
- Teacher gives each student an atlas to assist them in adding more words to the ABC template.
- Teacher brings students back to share the information with the rest of the class.
As well, teachers may have students do a picture walk with Canadian text via books, magazines, or the Internet.
ABC Template Instructions
ABC brainstorming graphic organizers are easily created in Microsoft Word or any word processing program in moments.
Microsoft Word
- Open a new document in Microsoft Word
- Insert a table with 5 rows and 5 columns
- Make the table fit the entire table by dragging the table to the bottom of the page
- Label each square with a letter of the alphabet except place X and Y together in one box
- Insert a few sample social studies words associated with the main theme in the correct square
- Include a title for the social study concept at the top of the table
- Print the ABC graphic organizer.
Assessing prior knowledge in a social studies is key for student success. Teachers needs to know what students know about the concept and alter the lesson plans accordingly. ABC brainstorming template is a quick tool to assess student's prior knowledge and to begin dialogue on a social studies concept.
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