What are knowledge organisers?

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A knowledge organiser is a document that contains key facts and information that children need to have good knowledge and understanding of a topic.

Most knowledge organisers will include:

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• the essential facts about the topic, usually laid out in easily digestible chunks

• key vocabulary or technical terms and their meanings

• images such as maps or diagrams

• famous quotations, if relevant

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Why do we use knowledge organisers?

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• to give children and teachers the ‘bigger picture’ of a topic or subject area

• pre-learning

• access to spelling and definitions of key vocabulary

• use for retrieval practice - regular retrieval of knowledge helps us remember more effectively 

• They make the knowledge explicit. So, even if a child misses a lesson, they have a constant point of reference.

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How can we use knowledge organisers at home to support learning?

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• ask children to match definitions to key vocabulary

• practise spelling the key vocabulary using look, say, cover, write, check

• look through the knowledge organiser at the start of a new topic and ask your child if they have any questions – these can then be researched at home

• create mini quizzes based on different sections of the knowledge organiser

• carry out additional research about key people or events within the knowledge organiser

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Please find our knowledge organisers below.