How to use graphic organisers to boost reading comprehension

Graphic organisers make the structure of a text visible. A story map reveals a plot, a flowchart orders events, and a concept map connects a main idea to supporting details. These visual tools support active reading by helping learners focus on relationships instead of holding every fact in working memory.

For children learning to read, bilingual students and English language learners, a well-chosen organiser gives thinking a visible home. It provides a place to record evidence, test predictions and revisit important words. My Reading Mentor builds these tools into personalised reading and comprehension plans, matching each learner’s needs rather than relying on one standard worksheet.

Choose an organiser that fits the reading task

Choose an organiser to match the reading demand. A story map with characters, setting, problem and resolution supports narrative retelling. A flowchart fits processes, a concept map fits informational texts, and a cause-and-effect diagram supports explanations. Its labels should express the question the learner is answering, rather than reproduce a decorative template.

Match the visual load to the learner. A student still decoding words may manage a picture-based map with three events, while an advanced reader can connect abstract ideas in a web. Keep labels brief for bilingual children and allow the home language to support discussion. The Australian school market already offers levelled readers and commercial literacy programmes. Through school partnerships, My Reading Mentor can add focused online lessons alongside classroom teaching.

Model the thinking behind the organiser

Modelling shows readers how an organiser carries meaning. Think aloud while filling it: identify the main idea, sort supporting details from distractions, predict what a heading might mean and connect unfamiliar words to known ideas. For a text about council-planted street trees, place the cause on one side and its stated effects on the other, then locate the evidence.

Reduce support gradually. The mentor models, the learner and mentor complete one together, and the learner leads the next. This gradual release gives readers useful scaffolding without removing the thinking task. Colour may help, but explaining the categories matters more than the page’s appearance.

Teach a before, during and after routine

Use a dependable before, during and after routine. Before reading, the learner predicts from the title and visuals. During reading, they record only what the page supports. After reading, they complete missing links, summarise the text and answer a specific question. The organiser guides attention and metacognition instead of serving as a response sheet.

Coordinate this work with the learner’s other literacy needs. For early readers, phonics and spelling instruction should remain central; the multisensory Touch-type Read and Spell programme supports that foundation. In NSW schools, the NSW Education Standards call for a balanced programme of daily reading practice in Years 1 to 6. An organiser adds a thinking routine without replacing that reading.

Adapt the task for every learner

The Australian Curriculum: English, Years 1–10, Version 9.0, includes content for English as an additional language or dialect. Organisers support these goals by giving learners shared language for evidence, sequence and explanation. In individual or small-group online lessons, translanguaging—brainstorming in a home language before moving key words into English—can help bilingual students organise ideas.

For students with reading difficulties, reduce demands before simplifying the goal. Offer fewer branches, larger print, uncluttered spaces and sentence starters such as “The text says…” or “This shows…”. Let the learner dictate an answer, then refine the wording together. This preserves the reasoning task while removing barriers unrelated to comprehension.

Older students preparing for TOEFL Junior can use an organiser to identify a question’s task, group evidence and write a clear response under time pressure. The routine builds test discipline and general academic reading proficiency.

Make short routines part of family and school life

Short routines fit ordinary Australian family life better than extra homework. A weekend library visit or quiet bedtime reading can become a regular learning moment. Melbourne and Brisbane public libraries offer children’s storytime and holiday reading activities, giving families natural opportunities to join in and discuss books.

Families can try these short activities at home:

• Let your child retell a familiar story using three pictures from a story map.
• Draw a cause-and-effect arrow for one event in a news article.
• Place a new word beside an example from the text.

Classrooms can use these routines:

• Display a simple concept map and add one missing connection together.
• Ask learners to justify each prediction before checking the text.
• Reserve ten minutes after reading for a brief oral summary.

Home and school can reinforce the same method. A learner can bring a partly completed map to a tutoring session, where the mentor asks for evidence and refines it. The child then returns it for classroom discussion, making the organiser a shared reference.

Review understanding and choose the next text

Check understanding through the learner’s explanation, not the neatness of the page. Ask the learner to locate the main idea, explain a relationship and support an answer with evidence. If those steps are missing, the organiser may be too complex, its labels unclear or the learner may need more explicit teaching.

Different formats suit different purposes:

Organiser	Best for	Learner action	Thinking prompt
Story map	Narratives	Order events, problems and changes	What changed, and why?
Flowchart	Processes	Place steps or events in order	What comes next?
Concept map	Non-fiction	Link the main idea with details	How are these ideas connected?
Cause-and-effect map	Explanations	Connect a cause with its outcomes	Why did this happen?
Evidence chart	Inference	Match a conclusion with textual clues	What proves my answer?

Keep notes on the learner’s explanations, then revisit the routine with a new text. Progress in reading fluency, vocabulary and written response matters alongside the organiser’s quality. For private online tutoring, families and schools should check data-handling terms and applicable obligations under the Privacy Act 1988 and the Australian Privacy Principles.

With consistent modelling and feedback, learners begin to choose their own organiser, organise evidence independently and explain the text with confidence.