Mind Mapping

I chose to do a mind map on a children's book called "The Saggy Baggy Elephant" by K. & B. Jackson. The story is about a young elephant named Sooki who did not know what kind of an animal she was. She was told by other animals that her skin was too saggy and baggy for her size. The book is basically about her trying to find out who or what she is and about her being comfortable in her own skin. I chose this book because of the lesson behind the story. It will help students see that there are many kinds of animals with different skin colors and physical appearances, just like people.

I chose to use this idea/graphic organizer because it will help students see how stories have a beginning, a middle, and an end. The major components and characters of the story are in order which will help the students see how all of it relate to one another and how they affect each other. This graphic organizer is another tool used to help students organize their thoughts and understanding of the story. It can also be used by teachers to assess the students' comprehension of the story. The most important lesson I learned from this activity is probably the fact that there are so many tools out there teachers could use to motivate students' learning. What I liked about using Gliffy to create the mind map is its simplicity. All the tools were very easy to access and use. The only problem I had was getting it linked to blogger, but after I figured it out it was quite simple. Next time I use this tool to do mind mapping, I will probably take more time to read through and really learn about each tool I could use. That's what held me back a bit because I had to familiarize myself with the program before I did my mind map.

Here's a play of the Saggy Baggy Elephant: