We just finished up our 22nd day of school and for many of those 22 days I have used Thinking Maps to help the students share their thinking.
I was trained in Thinking Maps years ago and I truly enjoy creating them with my kindergarten students!
I tend to start TM instruction in kindergarten with circle maps. They are great to use with any topic. Students are encouraged to tell me what they know about the topic. Here are some of the maps we have made.
We brainstormed the things we do in Kindergarten.
Another brainstorming session, this one is about signs we see.
This circle map was about musical instruments.
We use circle map cut and paste printables when learning our letter sounds. You can find this in my Letter Sound packet.
Bridge maps help students see relationships and analogies.
We made this map when reading the book Whose Baby Am I? (I had to photograph it in three sections since it was so long.)
I made this map interactive, enlisting my students to help with the initial sounds/letters. The goal is that students will create these maps on their own as they get older.
Give Thinking Maps a try in your classroom.