Try this! Mystery webs (Visual literacy)

Try this idea in your classroom

Mystery webs

Mystery webs are web diagrams that help with comprehension and learning. They are suitable for

creating curiosity about a new topic before you begin it;
revising a topic that has just been completed.

You are also introducing children to the use of web diagrams, sometimes called concept maps.

Background

Have you ever started a new topic in (say) science or history, only to find that the children are not "with you"? Their expressions tell you that either they "just don't get it", or they "know it all" already.

This happens when we launch into a topic before checking how much the students already know about it.

Here's a way of finding out what the students know about a subject before you start to teach it.

Grade level

The strategy works for any grade level K-8.

The strategy

As an example, suppose you are teaching a unit on the solar system at grades 3–5.

The day before you start this topic, jot down on a sheet of paper some of the key words or phrases that you expect to use when teaching this topic. The words should be well spaced out and in no particular order:

Make photocopies of the sheet and hand the copies around, so that the children can work in pairs, two to a sheet. [Why two?]

Don't tell the children what this is all about! Say simply, "See if you can find any connections between the words. If you can think of a connection, draw an arrow and write the connection on it."

On the board show them an example of what you mean:

Notice that the arrows show the direction in which the sentences are to be read. For example, the arrow shows that we read from Earth to ice caps: "Earth has two ice caps."

As more arrows are added they will form a web.

Point out that if they can't fit a word into their web, the children should highlight that word with a question mark. [Why?]

After they have had time to build their webs, ask the children to suggest what the mystery web is all about: "What would be a heading for this web?" Accept a variety of suitable answers: The Planets; The Earth in Space; Earth, Sun and Moon; and so on. Ask children to circle a word on the sheet that they think would be a good heading for the web.

Every web will look a little different. There will be many good results, all different. There is not a single correct answer. Here is one possible result:

In this example "planets" has been circled as the topic word, or heading. Blue has been used for connections the writer believes to be true. Red has been used for connections about which the writer is doubtful.

Finally, collect the sheets and tell the students that you will start this topic tomorrow. Don't mark or grade the sheets! They are available to you to examine tonight, before you start teaching the topic, to find out:

what the children already know,

where the knowledge gaps are,

who may be able to offer a presentation on an aspect of the topic, and

how you might pair children with complementary strengths.

Why are we doing this?

The children are now very interested in the topic. Why? First, they want to see if their predictions are correct. Second, they want to find out what those puzzling phrases like "a giant dirty snowball" are about. Above all, you are offering them a puzzle to solve, in which curiosity and the desire to learn have been stimulated.
Even when the children don't know all the answers (since they can't fit all the pieces together), there is no sense of failure here. They see these mystery phrases as a challenge and are speculating about the meaning of them. Their curiosity will be your friend tomorrow, when you start teaching this topic.
After the topic has been taught, children can revisit this sheet to compare what they know now with what they knew before the topic was introduced. This comparison focuses them on what they have achieved, and helps children to see the point of school and learning.
Organizing key concepts visually in a web diagram helps children to notice (and remember) the main connections and relationships. By comparison, making a list of unconnected facts does not help children to see these relationships.

What about that giant dirty snowball?

Notice that "a giant dirty snowball" and "the air would crush you flat" could not be fitted into the web? Are you wondering what they are all about?

This is exactly the effect this activity creates in the children. They now want to concentrate on what you have to teach. This is also the reason why "mystery webs" are an effective comprehension activity. And this is why it is a good idea to include a few surprising (but true) facts in any similar web you design for your class.

(The giant dirty snowball is Pluto. The crushing air is on Venus.)

Warning

Don't overuse this strategy. Keep it for those topics where you believe the children need additional support.

But what if I am not teaching this topic?

This is a strategy that will work for any content-area topic. It is not just meant for teaching the planets. "Mystery webs" help children learn especially those topics which involve unfamiliar concepts.

Resources

It may help to show children some examples of web diagrams first, so they are familiar with how webs work. Books on this site that have webs in them include:

What Do They Eat?

Information Toolkit page 34

Show Me! page 34

The mystery web strategy is explained in

I See What You Mean, pages 64–66.

This solar system topic was prepared using these books as reference material:

Small Worlds

The Gas Giants

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Now try these ...

Here are some other classroom ideas you might like to try:

Consequences

This is a "What if?" activity. Many skills are involved: brainstorming ideas, problem solving, visualizing how all parts of the problem fit together, and planning a discussion or an explanation.

A Consequence chart provides a framework that helps many of those struggling writers who ask, "What should I write about?" and "Where do I start?"

Visual summaries

An effective tool for improving research skills and comprehension. The students read some information in the form of sentences, but summarize the information as a diagram or other visual text.

This prevents copying the source. It also requires the student to think about the information in order to summarize it.

Decision makers

Making their own decisions builds confidence in learning, gives students a stake in their learning, and develops initiative and responsibility.

By organizing the choices in the form of a table (or chart), students are able to compare alternatives easily and to make a logical decision.