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Free Printable Circle Map

A blank circle map: the topic goes in the small circle, everything students know about it goes in the big circle, and where they learned it goes in the frame around the outside.

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Type to fill them in, or leave blank to print an empty template to write on by hand.

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Or download: Blank · Filled-in example

Use it withScience PrintablesScience diagrams and worksheets to start a unit: brainstorm what you know, then dig in.
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About the circle map

A circle map is for defining in context: brainstorming everything you know about a topic. Students write the topic in the small inner circle, then fill the big circle with words, pictures, facts, and ideas about it.

The square frame around the circle is the frame of reference, where students note where their information came from: a book, a video, a trip, or their own experience. The filled-in example shows a circle map for apples.

Frequently Asked Questions

Brainstorming and defining a topic. Teachers often use it at the start of a unit to see what students already know, or as a prewriting step before a descriptive paragraph.
Where the information came from, such as a book title, a video, a field trip, or a family member. It teaches students to notice the source of what they know.
No. Thinking Maps is a registered trademark of Thinking Maps, Inc., which sells the official program and teacher training. These are free blank templates in the same eight shapes, under the names teachers use for them.