Five-Section Graphic Organizer with Headline – Free Printable

This free printable five-section graphic organizer with a headline helps students organize one main topic into five clear ideas, details, categories, or steps.

The large headline area gives students a place to identify the main topic, question, or concept, while the five sections below provide a clear visual structure for breaking that topic into smaller parts.

The open layout makes this organizer flexible enough to use across subjects without tying it to one specific worksheet activity.

Classroom Ideas

Use this printable graphic organizer to help students:

Break a main topic into five key ideas
Record five facts about a subject
Organize supporting details from a text
Plan five sections of a writing assignment
Record steps in a process
Sort information into five categories
Organize research notes
Summarize a lesson, article, or video
Plan a classroom project or presentation
Collect examples related to one central concept

Suggested Grade Levels

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

For younger students, teachers can add a title and simple prompts before printing. Students can then complete the sections using short words, pictures, or symbols.

Older students can use the organizer more independently for summarizing, research, writing preparation, and project planning.

Why Use a Headline and Five Sections?

The structure helps students move from a main idea to supporting information.

The headline identifies the central topic, while the five sections encourage students to break that topic into manageable parts.

This can make information easier to understand, remember, discuss, and later turn into a paragraph, report, presentation, or other final product.

Because the sections are open, students can use short notes, keywords, sentences, diagrams, or drawings depending on the activity.

Ideas Across Subjects

Language Arts:
Place the title, topic, or main idea in the headline area and use the five sections for supporting details, story events, evidence, vocabulary, or writing ideas.

Science:
Use the headline for an animal, plant, habitat, process, or scientific concept and organize five characteristics, observations, stages, or facts below.

Social Studies:
Organize five facts, events, geographic features, cultural characteristics, or key ideas related to a country, historical figure, community, or topic.

Research and Project Work:
Use the headline for the research question or topic and the five sections for subtopics, facts, sources, or presentation points.

Explore More Graphic Organizers

Looking for a different visual structure?

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

You may also find these layouts useful:

Five-Section Graphic Organizer with Circles – a related visual organizer that pairs each section with a circle for keywords, numbers, or short prompts.
3-Column 6-Row Chart – useful for structured comparison and sorting across several entries.
Blank Three-Column Chart – an open layout for comparing or categorizing three topics.
3-Column 2-Row Chart – useful for shorter comparison activities with less information.

FAQ

What is a five-section graphic organizer used for?
It helps students divide one main topic into five related ideas, facts, categories, steps, examples, or supporting details.

What should students write in the headline area?
The headline can contain the main topic, question, title, concept, person, place, or subject being explored.

What grade levels is this printable suitable for?
It is especially useful for Grades 2-6. Younger students can use teacher-added prompts or pictures, while older students can work more independently.

Can this organizer be used for writing?
Yes. Students can place the writing topic in the headline and use the five sections to collect ideas, evidence, examples, or parts of a planned response before drafting.

Can I use it for research activities?
Yes. The headline can identify the research topic, while the five sections can represent subtopics, key facts, sources, questions, or findings.

Can students draw in the sections?
Yes. The sections can be used for keywords, sentences, diagrams, symbols, or drawings depending on the activity and grade level.

Headline Graphic Organizer

Graphic Organizer – Five Sections Chart with Headline