Concept Mapping

Another tool I was introduced to this week was bubble.us. It is a FREE, yes FREE, website that you can create a user account and make unique concept maps! The example I am providing is for a project that I would work on with my 8th graders. Families can be complex with many pockets of people related to other people. The project we would be creating, art-wise, would be a large rope that hangs from the ceiling with different sections of fabrics and yarns knotted to it, each representing someone on their family tree (about 8" of that material per person). Think of this like a weaving; we are all a part of the final piece, and stand out in different ways. All of these hanging from the ceiling together, would look like beautifully colored vines, with different sections of materials and color. I would have my students use bubble.us concept mapping to show the map of their family, who is related to whom, and what color they are choosing as a base idea to represent that particular person by. Here is my example:

Another area of I would use concept mapping for would be inspiration! I often have my students create a shared inspiration page, but a concept map would be another way to really see how the creative process took shape in their projects!