VISUALS: Pictorial Input Charts & Interactive Word Walls 

Levels PK-12 Content - Any  What's the difference between graphic organizers, interactive word walls and pictorial charts...and does it matter?

In a Pictorial Input Chart, the teacher selects and “draws” a key concept over the course of the learning, connecting ideas and academic vocabulary as the drawing develops. Students use the picture as a tool for discourse. A Pictorial Input Chart makes information comprehensible in all content areas at all levels. The chart helps all students connect ideas and use key vocabulary, but it is particularly helpful for multilingual learners. The key difference between the pictorial chart and a word wall is that the chart builds up to one key image over time. However, each of these is a powerful and meaningful scaffold. 

Similarly, an interactive word wall, unlike a traditional word wall, is a concept map of key vocabulary that resembles a large graphic organizer and is student generated as concepts are learned and connected. Students shared that interactive word walls “help me because whenever I forget, I could just look back, and it gave me good information.” Additionally, students stated that they “help remind us of what we have learned” and “since it is always up there I always remember when I am working by myself.” (Jackson & Nevea, Science & Children, full article linked below)