T-Chart Maker
Choose a pair of headings — pros and cons, facts and opinions, cause and effect, or your own — and get a printable T-chart. Leave the rows blank for students to fill in, or type entries to print a finished chart. Free, no sign-up.
Your chart
Pros
Cons
How to Use the T-Chart Maker
- 1. Choose the headings. Pick a chart type — pros and cons, facts and opinions, advantages and disadvantages, cause and effect, problem and solution, before and after, or for and against — or type your own two headings. Edit a heading and the chart type switches to Custom headings.
- 2. Add a title and set the rows. A title or topic is optional. Choose from 4 to 16 rows; the rows share the height of the page, so more rows are shorter.
- 3. Fill it in, or don't. Type entries, one per line, to print a completed chart, or leave both boxes empty for blank rows to write in. If your entries need more rows than you chose, the chart grows to fit them.
- 4. Print. Choose US Letter or A4, portrait or landscape, add a name and date line or row numbers if you want them, and press Print chart. Only the chart prints.
What a T-Chart Is For
A T-chart is the simplest graphic organizer there is: a heading on each side and a vertical line down the middle, so the whole thing looks like a letter T. Its strength is that it makes two lists sit side by side, so the reader compares them at a glance. It works for any question that has two sides, and it takes seconds to draw by hand, which is why teachers use it for quick thinking in the middle of a lesson.
| Chart type | Left column | Right column | Typical use |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pros and cons | Reasons in favour | Reasons against | Weighing a decision or a policy |
| Facts and opinions | Statements that can be checked | Statements that express a view | Reading a news article or a speech critically |
| Cause and effect | What happened first | What followed | History, science and fiction plots |
| Problem and solution | A difficulty | A way to address it | Persuasive writing, civics, engineering tasks |
| Before and after | The earlier state | The later state | Change over time, experiments, character growth |
Getting More From a Pros and Cons Chart
Counting entries is the weakest way to use a pros and cons chart, because one heavy reason can outweigh five light ones. Ask students to star the strongest point in each column, to say who is affected by each, and to write one sentence that weighs the two sides. The same applies to arguments in an essay: the chart gathers the evidence, and the writing decides what it is worth.
For a fact and opinion chart, give students a short text and have them sort its sentences. A fact can be checked against evidence — the river is 120 km long — while an opinion states a judgement that people can reasonably dispute — the river is the most beautiful in the country. Statements that mix the two, such as the dull speech lasted an hour, are worth discussing: the duration is a fact, dull is an opinion.
Printing Tips
- Portrait suits long lists and ten or more rows; landscape gives each column more width for sentences.
- Page margins are 0.5 inch on Letter and 12 mm on A4. In the print dialog, leave the scale at 100 per cent and turn off headers and footers.
- Rows fill the page. Four rows give tall boxes for drawing or a paragraph; sixteen give thin lines for short phrases.
- To make a chart for several classes, print the blank version and keep the typed one as your answer model.
Frequently Asked Questions
- What is a T-chart?
- A T-chart is a graphic organizer with two columns under two headings, divided by a vertical line, so it resembles the letter T. It is used to compare two things or to sort information into two groups, such as pros and cons, facts and opinions, or causes and effects.
- How do you make a T-chart?
- Draw a horizontal line near the top of a page, then a vertical line down from its middle. Write a heading on each side of the vertical line and list your points beneath. This tool does it for you: choose the headings, set the number of rows and print.
- Can I use my own headings?
- Yes. Type any two headings of up to 40 characters, such as Mammals and Reptiles, or Then and Now. The chart type changes to Custom headings, and the headings print exactly as you wrote them.
- Can I print the chart already filled in?
- Yes. Type entries into the two boxes, one per line, and they print in the rows in order. Leave both boxes empty to print blank rows. If you add more entries than rows, the chart grows up to 16 rows to fit them.
- How many rows can a T-chart have?
- Between 4 and 16. Rows share the printed height, so more rows are shorter. Entries beyond 16 per column are left out, and the tool tells you how many.
- Does it work on A4 paper?
- Yes. Choose A4 and either orientation. The chart is sized to the A4 printable area inside a 12 mm margin.
- Is my chart saved or uploaded?
- No. The chart is built in your browser from what you type, and nothing is sent or stored. Reloading the page clears it.