Five-Section Graphic Organizer with Circles – Free Printable Template

This free printable five-section graphic organizer helps students break a topic into five clear parts while using the side circles to highlight keywords, headings, examples, or important details.

The visual layout gives students a structured way to organize information without relying on a traditional table. Teachers can adapt the five sections to different subjects, topics, and classroom activities.

Classroom Ideas

Use this printable graphic organizer to help students:

Break a topic into five main ideas
Organize five steps in a process
Record five facts about a subject
Sort information into five categories
Plan sections of a project or presentation
Organize research notes
Summarize key ideas from a lesson or text
Connect keywords or short labels to larger explanations
Plan ideas before writing

The circles can be used for headings, numbers, keywords, symbols, or short prompts, while the larger sections provide space for explanations, notes, or drawings.

Suggested Grade Levels

This graphic organizer is especially suitable for Grades 2-6.

For younger students, teachers can place numbers, pictures, or short labels in the circles before printing. Older students can use the organizer more independently for research, note-taking, writing preparation, and project planning.

Why Use a Five-Section Graphic Organizer?

Breaking information into smaller visual sections can make complex topics easier for students to understand and organize.

The combination of five larger sections and five smaller circles creates a useful visual hierarchy. Students can place a main label or keyword in each circle and then expand on that idea in the corresponding section.

This makes the template useful for both collecting information and showing relationships between main ideas and supporting details.

Ideas Across Subjects

Language Arts:
Organize five events from a story, collect evidence, summarize sections of a text, or plan five ideas before writing.

Science:
Record stages in a process, classify information, organize observations, or summarize five characteristics of an animal, plant, material, or scientific concept.

Social Studies:
Organize information about five regions, events, historical figures, cultural characteristics, or geographic features.

Vocabulary and Language Learning:
Place a keyword in each circle and use the larger section for a definition, example, sentence, translation, or related vocabulary.

Explore More Graphic Organizers

Looking for a different structure?

Explore the full Graphic Organizer Templates collection for more free charts and visual thinking templates.

You may also find these layouts useful:

3-Column 6-Row Chart – useful for structured comparison and categorizing information across several rows.
Blank Three-Column Chart – a more open layout for comparing or sorting information into three broad categories.
3-Column 2-Row Chart – useful for shorter comparison and sorting activities.
Five-Section Graphic Organizer with Headline – a related layout for organizing five ideas under one central topic or heading.

FAQ

What is a five-section graphic organizer used for?
It can be used to divide a topic into five ideas, organize steps, collect facts, sort information into categories, summarize a lesson, or plan a writing or project activity.

How can students use the circles?
The circles can hold numbers, headings, keywords, symbols, or short prompts. Students can then expand on each item in the larger section beside it.

What grade levels is this printable suitable for?
It is especially useful for Grades 2-6. Teachers can add visual prompts or simple labels for younger students and allow more independent use with older students.

Can this organizer be used in different subjects?
Yes. The flexible layout works well for language arts, science, social studies, vocabulary, research, and project-based learning.

Can students draw in the organizer?
Yes. The larger sections can be used for words, short notes, diagrams, illustrations, or a combination of writing and drawing.

Circle Graphic Organizer

Graphic Organizer – Five Sections Chart with Circles Aside