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Free Printable Frayer Model Template

What is a Frayer model?

A Frayer model is a four-box graphic organizer that helps students learn a concept: a definition, characteristics, examples and non-examples around a center word. Students write the word in the middle, then fill in all four boxes. The non-examples box usually takes the most thought, because students have to decide where the concept stops.

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Frayer model template: a center oval labeled Word and four boxes: Definition, Characteristics, Examples, Non-examples

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Frayer model sheet · 1 page · US Letter (8.5 × 11 in)

Free to print and copy for classroom use · Free Use Terms

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Frayer model designs

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What goes where

What goes where on a Frayer model

Build a deep understanding of a word or concept: definition, characteristics, examples and non-examples.

LayoutA center with four boxes in a two-by-two arrangement.

  1. WordWrite the word or concept in the center.
  2. DefinitionWrite a student-friendly definition in your own words.
  3. CharacteristicsWrite the key features or traits of the concept.
  4. ExamplesList things that fit the concept.
  5. Non-examplesList things that look similar but do not fit.

TipWrite a student-friendly definition together first. Students often find the non-examples box the hardest, so model one.

Step by step

How do you use a Frayer model?

  1. Before

    Pick one key word or concept from the unit, such as “mammal” or “polygon.” Write it in the center.

  2. During

    Write a student-friendly definition together. Early on, you supply it. Later, students can draft it.

  3. During

    List the characteristics: the features every example must have.

  4. During

    Add examples, then non-examples. Include near misses that look like the concept but break one characteristic.

  5. After

    Ask students to explain why each non-example does not fit, using the characteristics.

  6. After

    Come back when the unit adds something new. You do not have to finish the whole sheet in one lesson.2

Model one sheet aloud first, then fill one in together, then let pairs try their own. Partners can split the work: one fills in Characteristics, the other Examples, and then they swap and check each other’s boxes. The Frayer model works best as a conversation, not a homework worksheet.2 These questions keep the conversation going:

  • “What would make this an example?”
  • “Is there something that looks like an example but is not?”
  • “Which characteristic does this non-example break?”

Asking a student to defend a close case turns the sheet into a short argument from evidence.

What is an example of a completed Frayer Model?

Frayer model for ‘mammal’ (grades 3–5, science).
BoxWhat students write for “mammal”
Center wordmammal
DefinitionAn animal whose mother feeds it milk when it is young.4
Characteristics
  • Has hair or fur
  • Is warm-blooded
  • Breathes air with lungs
Examples
  • Dog
  • Horse
  • Human
  • Bat (it flies, but it has fur and nurses its young)
Non-examples
  • Shark (a fish: breathes with gills)
  • Lizard (a reptile: scaly skin)
  • Robin (a bird: feathers)

The bat is the teaching moment: it flies like a bird, but the characteristics show it is a mammal.4

In English language arts, the near miss for “metaphor” is a simile: “Time is a thief” goes in Examples, and “as quick as a fox” goes in Non-examples.

More words to try. Math: polygon, prime number, fraction. Science: habitat, force, producer. Reading and writing: theme, protagonist, persuasion. Social studies: democracy, migration, resource.

Benefits

Why use a Frayer model? When should you use it?

It goes past the dictionary

Students must say what a word means, what it looks like and what it is not.

Non-examples catch mix-ups early

A student who lists a shark as a mammal shows the gap before the test, not after.

It fits many subjects

Reading vocabulary, math and science terms, social studies ideas.

Save it for the few key concepts in a unit, not every word on the list.2 To compare two things, a Venn diagram is quicker. For everyday words with synonyms and antonyms but no clear non-examples, try a word map.

Variations

What are the variations of the Frayer model?

Teachers adapt the four boxes to fit the class:

  • Younger students draw examples and non-examples instead of writing.
  • Older students add a sentence that uses the word.
  • Some classes swap “characteristics” for “facts” or “in my own words.”
  • Some classes build the boxes in a shared document, so every student can add an example.

Every version keeps the same idea: say what the word is, and what it is not.

By grade

How do you use a Frayer model in each grade band?

Grades K–2

Draw instead of write. Fill in examples and non-examples with pictures, say the definition aloud together, and read each finished box aloud.

Grades 3–5

Use it for math and science terms. Ask students to find a tricky example and a near-miss non-example.

Grades 6–8

Use it for academic vocabulary in any subject. Have partners defend each non-example with a characteristic.

Grades 9–12

Use it for abstract concepts such as justice or inflation, where students must explain why a close case does not fit.

Compare

Frayer model or word map: which should you use?

Use a Frayer model when a concept has clear boundaries, such as a shape, a science term or a kind of text. Use a word map when you want to explore a word through synonyms, antonyms and a sentence.

Frayer model or word map: which should you use
FeatureFrayer modelWord map
What it looks likeFour boxes around a center wordA center word with four labeled spaces around it
Where things goDefinition, characteristics, examples, non-examplesDefinition, synonyms, antonyms, in a sentence
Best forConcepts with clear boundaries and clear non-examplesEveryday and multi-meaning words you want to explore
LimitsHard to fill in for abstract words with no obvious non-examplesDoes not test where a meaning stops
Print it poster-size

Can you print a Frayer model at 24×36?

Print it at 24×36. Any sheet here prints poster-size too. Printed poster-size, a Frayer model becomes a class anchor chart everyone can see and add to throughout the unit. A school poster maker prints it for as low as $1.30 per 24×36 poster.

Get a quote for your school See how schools print anchor charts in-house

Questions

What do teachers ask about the Frayer model?

What are the four parts of the Frayer model?

The four parts are definition, characteristics, examples and non-examples, arranged around the word or concept in the center.

  • Definition: what the word means, in student-friendly words.
  • Characteristics: the features every example has.
  • Examples: clear cases of the concept.
  • Non-examples: things that look related but are not the concept.

Who created the Frayer Model?

The Frayer model is named for Dorothy A. Frayer, who co-wrote the 1969 University of Wisconsin report it was adapted from.1 That report, “A Schema for Testing the Level of Concept Mastery,” was about testing how well students understand a concept. Frayer wrote about the same idea again in a 1972 article, “Levels of Concept Mastery: Implications for Instruction.”1

What are the disadvantages of using a frayer?

Used as a solo worksheet, it can turn into copying definitions.2 It works best for concepts with clear examples and non-examples, and it takes time, so save it for the few words in a unit that matter most. Abstract or multi-meaning words can be hard to fit into the boxes, and a word map may suit them better.

What is a frayer model in math?

In math, a Frayer model pins down a term such as “polygon” or “prime number” by listing its definition, characteristics, examples and non-examples. For “prime number,” 7 and 13 are examples, while 1 and 9 are non-examples, and explaining why is the point. A “polygon” sheet works the same way: triangles and hexagons go in Examples, while a circle and a cube go in Non-examples.

How to make a frayer model in Google Docs?

Insert a 3 × 3 table in Google Docs or Word, put the word in the middle cell and one label in each corner cell.3 Use the sheet’s four labels: Definition, Characteristics, Examples and Non-examples. The sheet on this page is also print-and-write: print it and fill it in by hand, or project it and fill it in together.

Sources

  1. Frayer, Frederick and Klausmeier (1969), “A Schema for Testing the Level of Concept Mastery” (Technical Report No. 16), University of Wisconsin Research and Development Center for Cognitive Learning, as cited on the IRIS Center (Vanderbilt University) Frayer Model template. Dorothy A. Frayer, “Levels of Concept Mastery: Implications for Instruction,” Educational Technology 12(12), 23–29 (1972), ERIC record EJ078393: https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ078393
  2. IRIS Center, Vanderbilt University, “Building Vocabulary and Conceptual Knowledge Using the Frayer Model” (Secondary Reading Instruction, Part 1, page 7): https://iris.peabody.vanderbilt.edu/module/sec-rdng/cresource/q2/p07/
  3. Google Docs Editors Help, “Add and edit tables”: https://support.google.com/docs/answer/1696711
  4. Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, “Introduction” (Introducing Mammals to Young Naturalists): all mammals are warm-blooded and air-breathing, all have true hair, and the females make milk for their young: https://tpwd.texas.gov/publications/nonpwdpubs/introducing_mammals/introduction · National Park Service, “How Bats Fly”: bats are the only mammals capable of true flight: https://www.nps.gov/subjects/bats/how-bats-fly.htm

Poster Studio Express Updated October 2026

About these sheets: Made with AI image tools. Free to print and copy for classroom use · Free Use Terms