Are you looking for ways to teach your students ways to tackle their comprehension of non-fiction texts? Check out this excellent resource from the Center for Urban Education. I love how the graphic organizers are simple to draw, so I don’t have to run copies ahead of time for my students. They are also broken up into different comprehension strategies and text structures, so I’m always going to be able to find one to meet my needs.
Obviously, these graphic organizers fit beautifully with non-fiction texts of all kinds and levels. But, have you thought about using them with videos or clips from Discovery Education? I love teaching the use of these organizers with video clips because we can focus specifically on the featured learning objective, like summarizing. My lower readers do really well with this activity because they can get a handle on the skill I am trying to teach before they are struggling with the texts, too. This way, they know what they are doing and what to look for, as well as how to think about it. Give it a try!
In the Trenches 
Hi, my name is Michael Morris and I am an EDM310 student at the University of South Alabama. Graphic organizers can be extremely helpful in assisting students as they read non-fiction texts. The Center for Urban Education seems to have many different graphic organizer resources that can be displayed on a smart board for the students to see as they draw their own graphic organizer at their seat. I know many schools limit the number of copies that teachers can make each month, so the easy to draw graphic organizers helps save the teacher’s copies and paper. I haven’t thought about using a graphic organizer for Discovery Education videos, but it sounds like a wonderful idea. This would allow, like you mentioned, the lower level readers to grasp the reading and comprehension strategies without struggling with the text itself. Although I will not be working with elementary school students, I could still use these organizers in my secondary level history classes to help the students comprehend what they read in the, usually textbook or watch a video. Thank you for sharing this resource.
Hello,
My name is Indya Mitchell and I am a student attending the University of South Alabama. I absolutely loved reading this post. Graphic organizing would be a great tool for students to use in class. Reading this post has opened my mind to the concept that all possibilities are endless in the classroom.