Webs

Webs are visual maps that show how different categories of information relate to one another. Webs provide structure for ideas and facts and give students a flexible framework for organizing and prioritizing information.

Typically, major topics or central concepts are at the center of the web. Links from the center connect supporting details or ideas with the core concept or topic.

Teachers and students alike use webs to brainstorm, organize information for writing (pre-writing), as well as to analyze stories and characterization.

Classroom teachers tell us that webbing is an effective technique to use in small group settings. As students work cooperatively they can build collaborative webs, incorporating the thoughts and

Explore the different ways to use webs:

Literary webs help students analyze stories or novels so that they more fully understand the literary elements at play, as well as the composition of the story.

• A literary web helps students analyze the various literary elements (plot, characterization, theme, etc.) at play in any given story. By dissecting characters, plots and sequence of events, students learn about composition and get a better understanding of a story as a whole.
• Literary webs are easy to create using our built-in templates and activities. An immediate jumpstart into visual learning, these cross-curricular learning exercises help students and educators see how easy and fun organized thinking can be!

Character webs represent one of the ways in which visual learning can support reading comprehension.

• In a character web, students identify the traits of a central character. This reinforces the concept of point of view and helps students understand a character's actions and motivation.
• When students are reading complex stories, a character web can also show how the character develops as the story proceeds. For example, you can have students create a web after reading the first chapter of a story and then save it. After the second chapter, they can return to the diagram and change what they've written to reflect their new understanding of how the character has developed.
• Character webs are easy to create using our built-in templates and activities. An immediate jumpstart into visual learning, these cross-curricular learning exercises help students and educators see how easy and fun organized thinking can be!

 
Comparison is one of the most basic and powerful forms of analysis in any discipline.  For example, in a social studies class, students may compare and contrast the characteristics of one culture with another. This type of analysis helps students better understand the groups being studied, as well as make unifying connections between them.

• Depending on the context and complexity of the comparison webs, students may reveal:
  
  • The universality of cultures and religions
  • Why one civilization was able to survive at a specific point in time, while another failed
  • Why two cultures responded to the same event in different ways
  • How a culture could embrace two seemingly different religions
     
• Comparison diagrams are easy to create using our built-in templates and activities. An immediate jumpstart into visual learning, these cross-curricular learning exercises help students and educators see how easy and fun organized thinking can be!
  
   

Pre-writing describes the brainstorming and organizing students do before writing. Once students choose a topic, they type it in the center of a web. Then they rapidly add subtopic ideas in symbols connected to the main topic. Each subtopic can have its own subtopics, which can also have subtopics, and so on.

• When students are finished creating their diagrams, they can switch to the integrated Outline View to expand their ideas in written form. If writing is too difficult, younger students can use the Record Tool in Kidspiration^® to record words or sounds and attach them to a symbol, while older students use notes text in Inspiration® to further develop their outline into a complete essay.

Other visual learning techniques:
Idea Maps
Concept Maps
Plots
Mind Maps