Thing 18: Online Thought Organizers

Several times a year I have my students create mind maps for different topics that we study. I was intrigued by the idea of online thought organizers. So, I played around with FreeMind.

I don't think that I will ever have kids create Mind Maps using this tool, because I would have to do so much instruction on how the tool works. I think that would take away from my main purpose of using a mind map to teach or review content.

However, I could see some uses for this tool in my classroom. I could create one and then project it in the front of the room to fill out as a whole class activity. Or, I could print them out as a worksheet for individuals/groups to fill out. There are some fun features (blinking fonts) that would be lost by printing them off.

I created a "thought organizer" for Ancient Rome. I have had a student teacher for most of the Rome unit and he has been creating and delivering the lessons. I will be finishing the unit up after Christmas, once we have done some work with History Day. So, this unit is getting very spread out. To bring things back together, I think I will use the Ancient Rome organizer that I created.

Take a look at the Rome Review Chart under "assignments/worksheets" on my web page.