KNOWLEDGE ORGANISERS

• purpose (what is the point of a knowledge organiser?)

• appropriate content (what should be included and how should it be presented?)

• to have pedagogy (how can knowledge organisers become a practical tool used effectively by teachers and students?).

Purpose

If Knowledge Organisers are to support learning and retention, subject departments and teachers must be very clear about their purpose and how to use them effectively. If used incorrectly, the Knowledge Organiser is reduced to little more than a list of disassociated facts. 

Content

When making decisions about what must be included we have to consider that not everything can be included on an A3 piece of paper. 

We must balance the need to use concise space-saving key vocabulary, concepts and definitions while still including meaning enough for it to be useful.

The contents of a knowledge organiser are entirely subject dependent. 

There is some information that may be found be found across knowledge organisers in all subjects. This may include: 

• key vocabulary / key words. 

• concepts

• useful diagrams (as required for the topic)

• key dates for a subject such as history would clearly also be included

• key themes 

• important quotes (that demonstrate those themes)

• key sentences

• ...