21/03/2024Knowledge Organisers
Knowledge organisers are a way of highlighting to students the key facts, information and vocabulary that is needed to have basic understanding of a topic. They help students to reduce their cognitive load so that they can focus on applying knowledge with the support of the knowledge organiser.
Our knowledge organisers include:
- Key knowledge about a topic or concept, in easily manageable chunks
- Key vocabulary or subject specialist terms and their meanings quality images such as maps, diagrams and photographs
- Features such as a timeline
- Famous quotations (if relevant)
- Links to wider reading
Knowledge organisers do not include everything that students need to know about a topic – that would be too much to fit on one sheet! But is a strong foundation for the learning.
They can be used to support independent study, revision, flipped learning and pre-learning/pre-teaching.
A knowledge organiser is a document, usually no more than two sides of A4, that contains key facts and information that children need to have a basic knowledge and understanding of a topic.
How are knowledge organisers used in the classroom?
- They are given to students at the beginning of a topic.
- They use them as a tool for retrieval alongside to support recall starters and quizzes.
- They can support learning by helping to identify gaps in students’ knowledge throughout the topic or support students to catch up after an absence: What have they understood? What needs more work?
- Make links between knowledge organisers to help students. understand how their learning connects. For example, remind the students of a previous year’s knowledge organiser and discuss how their new topics link and build upon it.
- Use them as a handy spelling and vocabulary reminder. Supporting students to use the subject specific vocabulary correctly.
How can knowledge organisers support independent study and revision?
- There are lots of revision activities that can be used to help memorise the key information in preparation for an assessment. Some suggestions can be found here.
- They can also support students to pre-learn before they start a new topic. This is particularly useful for students that have Dyslexia, ADHD or other learning needs. This can build confidence and support learning. A guide to some suggested activities for independent proactive learning can be found here.
