Make-a-Map Templates for ELL’s

We’ve just launched Map Templates, a brand-new enhancement for Make-a-Map, our IdeaphoraⓇ-powered concept mapping tool.  Students can now select from a collection of templates to use as they construct their concept maps, including those designed for Problem Solution Analysis, Compare and Contrast, Cyclical Relationship, Story Analysis, and more!

Starting with a blank page can be overwhelming. This is especially true for ELLs who might already be struggling to understand the content, grammar, and vocabulary of a topic. By providing templates, we can alleviate the stress of deciding how to represent a concept. The outline is already made and is just waiting to be filled in. For example, with a Structure or Problem Solution template, students can easily see how a concept is broken down into topics and subtopics or main ideas and details. The more students practice making concept maps with templates, the better they’ll be able to illustrate concepts on their own later.

The Map Templates provide scaffolding  as students learn to develop and construct concept maps. And they’ll still have the ability to add more nodes as needed. Once they become familiar with the various mapping structures, they can use Make-a-Map to build their own concept maps from scratch.  
While our Map Templates are intended to encourage best practices, be sure to remind your students that there’s no right or wrong way to create a concept map.