Thinking Maps!

So last night after hitting the gym and submitting a book order on Scholastic I started to grade some writing journals. 

I really love taking a set of these home each week. You never know what you'll find - even after all the conferring - a few gems slip throughout the cracks! Especially when my students love to write at recess! I found acrostic poems about classmates, letters to me, and fantastic Thinking Maps! 

Here are a few the students used to organize their thinking...

A double bubble to compare...

A flow map to show sequence...

And a brace to show the whole/part relationship...
(she wasn't sure about the plank - but she researched it and found there WAS a plank!)