The Concept Map

This week we learned about concept maps. Through reading articles and watching videos, I learned that they help children focus on the most important material of that concept or idea.

For an example, a concept map can look something like this:

If you can notice, concept maps often include not only words, but also images. This fun and create way to share information can be a great help for English language learners, because of the ability to place words together with pictures.

Through studying more about concept maps, I realized how useful and fun they could be for students. Part of the assignment in learning about concept maps, was to create your own. Because I am such a fan of personal finance, I created a concept map titled, Retirement Essentials. To get there, you need income generating, and there will always be expenses, so you need to subtract those.

I enjoyed creating it, because doing so, helped me realize that concept maps can be used for the same topic, but the creator can make it as elementary, or complex as they would like to.

Here’s the one I created:

Furthermore, here are some links about concept maps I plan to use for my 4th grade students!

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=22&ved=2ahUKEwjMzMXxiIXfAhVIJTQIHToAD0sQFjAVegQIARAC&url=http%3A%2F%2Fteacher.scholastic.com%2Freading%2Fbestpractices%2Fvocabulary%2Fpdf%2Fconcept.pdf&usg=AOvVaw0PLbeWWF9hQ8P1GSwwtEeF

Scholastic source. Great for teachers as it walks the educator through a step-by-step process to presenting new material using concept maps.

http://www.readingrockets.org/strategies/concept_maps

Reading Rockets article that includes examples and video to help guide the explanation.

https://educators.brainpop.com/bp-topic/concept-mapping/

Great Brainpop link that introduces the notion of using concept maps to students. Excellent to get the purpose across for learners.

Enjoy!