Planning with Concept Maps

 

Lecture 3: Going from a Concept Map to a Paragraph

As discussed, most academic paragraphs have a topic, major supporting ideas and minor supporting details. Now, when a concept map is reorganized into topic, major and minor supports, it will help you to write an organized paragraph where each major support is followed by its minor support(s). Let’s revisit the example of “My Favorite Teacher, Mr. Carnes.”

• Topic (in the middle in an oval with a pink background): Mr. Carnes • Major supports (here they appear in blue) (in ovals with blue backgrounds connected to/surrounding the pink topic oval) and minor supports (minor supports appear here in green) (in ovals with green backgrounds connected to their corresponding major support’s blue oval): Where and When/ Beebe School, 6th Grade; Made Learning Interesting and Fun/let my friend and I read Nancy Drew then write our own mysteries, Smorgasbord event; Personality/very funny, clever; Relationship with Students/ caring, respectful of students, treated us as responsible adults; Loved his Students/ had class pictures of all former students, remembered me 22 years later

Using the new map I have written the following paragraph. Note that the major supports appear in blue while their minor supports appear in black and bold.

        Most people look back at their childhood school experience with fond memories. Part of those fond memories certainly includes teachers. I think we can all recall certain teachers that helped make our early school experience a positive one; sometimes we can think of one teacher who made that experience especially meaningful. I have a favorite teacher. His name is Mr. Carnes and he was my sixth grade teacher at Beebe School in Melrose, Massachusetts. He was special to everyone in my class for several reasons. First, his relationship with students was one of respect and caring. I remember he used to treat us as the smart kids we were and he never spoke to us as though we were children. Another reason he was a great teacher is that he made each and every class very interesting and fun. For example, several classmates and I loved reading Nancy Drew mystery stories. He allowed us to read them in class (not part of the curriculum of 6th grade!) and he also let us sit at a special table outside of the classroom to write our own mystery stories! Mr. Carnes also held a Smorgasbord, a Scandinavian feast, where all the kids brought in unique Scandinavian food to share. This was our introduction to a very different culture from our own. One of things I remember most about my favorite teacher was his personality. He was very funny and clever. For example, he used to have funny nicknames for all of his students based on their personality traits (for example, “Sleepy” for the kid who was always tired and “Fashion Plate” for the kid who dressed stylishly). Finally, Mr. Carnes loved his students. He displayed class pictures of all of his former classes on his classroom wall, I think as a reminder of all the kids he taught over several decades; and when I went back to visit Mr. Carnes 22 years later, he remembered me immediately! That shows me that he was indeed a great, caring teacher and I will always remember him.
Click here for Activity 5:    Which group of ideas provides the major supporting ideas for the paragraph
When you finish, close the new window and continue to the next exercise