Organizing things (like similar puzzle pieces, office supplies, jewelry, etc.) is one of my favorite activities. Organizing thoughts definitely takes more effort, but is so worth the resulting clarity and conciseness. I find a thoroughly considered list to be a beautiful thing. Google Docs provides bullet and numbered lists for this purpose.
As a teacher, I’m responsible for helping my students learn to communicate their thoughts. Giving them the technical skills to create (and edit) such a structure through technology is appropriate for almost all ages. In the videos below, you’ll see how to create a lovely list, and be given a beginning-of-year assignment idea for teaching your students the tech skill. BONUS: Your model and their assignment helps you get to know each other and create rapport!
Once students are proficient with creating these hierarchical lists, you could use them for note-taking, pre-writing or assessment in any content area.