Fifteen graphic organizers, one page each, with the lines kids need

Our third grade teacher keeps a drawer of organizers because "write a paragraph about your weekend" produces either three words or three pages. A hamburger paragraph sheet, with a top bun for the topic sentence and three fillings for details, produces a paragraph. It is the drawer I wanted at home.

What the sheet looks like

The graphic organizer generator prints one organizer per page at full size. There are fifteen: hamburger paragraph, main idea table, story map, beginning-middle-end, sequence chain, KWL chart, cause and effect, Venn diagram, T-chart, 5 W's, character traits, OREO opinion plan, spider map, Somebody-Wanted-But-So-Then summary and a fact vs opinion sort. You can type a topic or book title to print at the top.

Writing lines are primary with a dashed midline, ruled, or none, so the same story map works for a first grader drawing and a fifth grader writing. A few organizers have a size setting: the sequence chain takes 4, 5 or 6 boxes, the main idea table 3 or 4 details, cause and effect one or three effects, and the Venn two or three circles.

Why it works

• An organizer separates thinking of ideas from writing sentences. A child who can do both at once does not need the sheet; most eight-year-olds cannot yet.
• The shape carries the lesson. Four boxes in a chain say "things happen in order" without a word of instruction.
• Boxes are a fixed size. A detail that fills its box is enough detail, which answers the "how long does it have to be" question before it is asked.

Who it suits

Beginning-middle-end and the story map with primary lines work from first grade. The hamburger, OREO and SWBST organizers earn their place in grades 3 to 5, when paragraph writing starts. The KWL chart and cause and effect are as useful in science as in reading. If a child needs a Venn with actual things to sort, the standalone Venn diagram sheet fills it in for you.

Print the hamburger ten at a time. It goes fast.