Engaging Students with Concept Mapping Activities

• Concept mapping can be used to really engage students in important school subjects such as language arts, math, science, and social studies. One of the ways that concept mapping could be used in my classroom that would help explain and engage students is using it in math. I always struggled with math and I think it can be a very hard subject for students to grasp. In order to support their learning, concept mapping explains concepts visually in order to make them easier to comprehend. Concept mapping provides step by step visual instructions of what is happening. It would be great for learning fractions or factor trees because it would easily demonstrate what is going on. It breaks down problems and helps them see connections which would often be hard to imagine. It will help accommodate all learning types understand math problems in an interesting and intriguing way beyond just learning it from a text book. It will really enhance visual learners because it is creating a whole new way to visualize concepts and learn them.


• Language arts would be one of the best ways to integrate concept mapping into lessons. Concept mapping are great ways to formulate ideas when writing a paper and by using concept mapping programs students are getting to be active on the computer. If they are using it to write a paper it will help the students to organize their ideas. It will allow them to move ideas around in order to find the best and most specific way to write a paper. It can also be great for reading and analyzing books. Students can create character maps or maps about the progression of a story. Students get to be interactive and have fun examining books in a different way than usual. It will enhance the students learning and help them to better engage in their learning. Students get bored of just writing papers and reading books. Concept mapping will let them learn in a new exciting way and to do assignments differently.


• Like any new program on a computer it will take time to learn how to do it. I have never done concept mapping through the internet, but I have hand written concept maps so I do understand the process of how to create them. I do not think it would take a long time to integrate them into the classroom and use them. I can take the written concept mapping ideas I have for students and begin to have them use it on the computer instead. Instead of writing step by step instructions on paper for how to complete a math problem, I can create a concept map that shows the same thing, but probably in a much easier way for students to understand. I also think it would be acceptable to try it out on the students and discover how to do them together. This will let them be a part of the learning process. It would be worth my time to learn how to use these programs because I have learned the importance of differentiated instruction. I do not want to teach the same way to my students because it does not allow them engage in learning. By providing an activity that is interactive and different will help them engage in the lessons, and that is the most important thing to provide students as a teacher.

Here is an example of a concept map