While you can explain the parts of something, such as the human body, showing a diagram of the body with the parts labeled provides visual support for your lesson. As you talk about a body part, such as the shoulder, you can point to where the shoulder is on the diagram and the child will see how the shoulder is positioned in relation to the rest of the body. When it is time for the child to demonstrate learned knowledge, the diagram can again be presented to the child. Only when this occurs, have the human body form on the diagram with blanks beside each body part that the child will fill in appropriately.
Diagrams teach children how to group things. On one side of a sheet of paper place categories of such things as farm animals, zoo animals and birds. On the other side of the sheet of paper list different animals within each of these animal groups, such as cows, horses, zebras, elephants, bluebirds and cardinals. Have the student create a diagram on the paper, drawing a line from the name of an animal to the animal group where the animal belongs.
A diagram is used in the classroom to demonstrate how things are connected. For example, a diagram may show all of the sections of a business, including the workers, the leaders, the management and the owners, with a flow of the diagram from the bottom level of the business to the top. Use a diagram of this nature to teach your child about the community in which she lives or perhaps the levels of government in the country. In any case, present the completed diagram to the student, then have him fill in a diagram that is not labeled to demonstrate acquired knowledge.
Diagrams that teach the steps in a process are especially helpful when a child will take part in a hands-on exercise such as conducting a science experiment. In this case, a diagram is significant in learning the steps in the scientific method of experimentation. Provide the student with a diagram of the scientific method steps: Research and question, hypothesis, experiment, conclusion and analysis. Then discuss the steps shown on the diagram. Once the child demonstrates an understanding of the steps, have her follow the diagram to conduct a small experiment in the classroom.