Do you have a complex text with lots of elements–people, places, things, events–that students struggle to keep track of? This network lets students track the many kinds of connections that are possible in complex literary sources. This network facilitates students to:

• make connections between elements within a source or topic
• make connections between elements of a source or topic and themselves
• make connections with their peers

Teachers who have used this type of network have created purposeful environments where students were able to see how they are engaged by sharing about themselves and connecting to their learning and peers.

When should I use this template?

When you have a source with a complex list of characters or a complex structure that students find difficult to follow, and you want students to find one or two connections that will help them better engage with the reading.

What’s the investment in time and effort for this network?

Time: From one class period to many. This activity is especially helpful for integrating several different readings. Used across several sources, the network can help remind students of previous historical events or figures they encountered months or weeks ago.

Teacher support: Teachers will need to

• understand the basics of Net.Create (node and edge entry). See this basic-data-entry video!
• how to toggle between network view and table view and sort columns in table view.
• how to use one network filter (the “?????” filter). See this ?????-filter video!

How should I use this template?

Network Details: What should my students and I be tracking?

For any network, students will track nodes (things) and edges (relationships between things), each of which will also have “attributes” (which include mandatory info like citations and optional info like extra notes).

Nodes (things being connected)

In this network, the nodes represent people, places, objects, groups, and activities that are part of the text or source students are reading and/or are important to the students in the class.

• Person: A character from the book or a student in the class. For example, when reading the book The Book Thief, a person node might be Liesel (the main character of the book) or Adam (a student in the class).
• Activity: Something that a person or group of people do. For example, when reading the book The Book Thief, an activity node might be “soccer”.
• Object: A physical thing. For example, when reading the book The Book Thief, an object node might be “books”.
• Group: A group of people. For example, when reading the book The Book Thief, a group node might be “class at school”.
• Place: A location or significant place. For example, when reading the book The Book Thief, a place node might be Germany (where the book takes place).

Edges (connection types)

In this network, the edges show things that are connected. Since the network has both elements of the text or source and elements of real life, nodes from the two should be connected showing relationships between the text or source and the students.

• Connected to: You would use “connected to” to connect two nodes that are related. For example, there might be an edge showing “Liesel” - “connected to” - “books” and an edge showing “Adam” (a student in the class) - “connected to” - “books”.

What learning goals does this template support?

• CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.8.1: Cite the textual evidence that most strongly supports an analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.
• CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.8.2: Determine a theme or central idea of a text and analyze its development over the course of the text, including its relationship to the characters, setting, and plot; provide an objective summary of the text.

What data literacy outcomes does this template support?

• Students will ask questions about the original source of data and how the context of a data source may have ethical implications for who is seen / heard and centered in the data and analysis
• Students will ask questions about the original source of data and how the context of a data source may have ethical implications for who is seen / heard and centered in the data and analysis

Resources for classroom use

Teacher Resources

• Classroom management recommendations
• Network-analysis learning Resources
  • Simple Net.Create documentation
  • Videos of new node/edge, table sorting, filters, etc.
  • 5-moves-to-make video
• 1-pager lesson plan
  • “Good questions to ask” guide for teachers
  • What network-data moves (viz, tables, filters) to use as network gets big

Student Handouts

• “Good questions to ask” guide for teachers