Early in the chapter it talks about how similar learning to read and write are. I could not agree more. Working around 2 year olds at Apple Tree, there are often times when the children will sit on their own and look at books, turning each page, looking at the pictures, and then moving on to the next page or even book. They all do so in a manner that you know they are not reading the actual text but they are looking at one page long enough that you know they are creating their own stories based on the pictures in the books. It is the same observation when the children are drawing. Just like with reading books, the children will go get their notebooks out of their cubbies in which is a sign I need to provide them with markers or crayons so they can draw. While drawing they will make up scenarios and tell stories out loud of what they are drawing (even though to anyone else its just a mess of colors). Even the younger toddlers who are not very fluent in their vocabulary are making noises while they are drawing. These observations go along with Vygotsky's theory that literacy starts with drawing.
By working and observing with a range of young children at Apple Tree, I have noticed many of the developmental stages this chapter has discussed. By working with my classroom of children right around the age 2 and then observing in the classroom of children around the age of 4 there is actually a very noticeable difference in developmental stages. The 4 year olds are full of stories and want to express every little detail to you. For example, one of the 4 year olds wanted to draw a picture of her mom one day because she said she missed her while she was at school. Her picture was very clear and even if she had not told me what it was or who it was, I would have been able to tell it was an older female she knew very well. Along with her drawing, she told stories of her mom the whole time.
Both of these experiences go right along with what is discussed in this chapter. Drawing is a form of literacy because its a form of communication. What are some other strategies that teachers and adults can use to keep students as interested in writing when they get older as they were when they were younger and just starting? Why is drawing becoming "less and less privileged" when we know children naturally enjoy it?
I loved your insights, Haleigh! I couldn't agree more, drawing is an important key to literacy. It's something that needs to be fostered and exploited appropriately to encourage literacy development.
ReplyDeleteI think often from an outsider's perspective, drawing can be seen as a silly activity that children do in a pre-writing stage that is used as a cop out alternative to writing. However, we as educators know this is not true! I believe this is why drawing is become less and less privileged, even with our knowledge of children's love for it and the benefits.
Many times, when we read children's writings, sans drawings, they forget words or even parts of the story, and it tends to be very bare bones material. Often when children illustrate to go along with their written tales or verbally tell stories corresponding with their drawings, they are more fleshed out, beginning-middle-end stories. Drawing is an important tool for pre-literate and emergent literacy learners. The drawings help remind the writers of their plot lines, sequence of events, and details.
Using drawing and writing in early childhood ed classrooms is crucial to their ability to transition to explicitly taught literacy environments. Without this knowledge of communication base, they aren't able to develop into the reading and full writing stages.
Once they move to the independent writing phases, in schools it is often difficult to spend time working on writing mechanics or simply free writing time. Most often, when children are writing full sentences and/or paragraphs, it is to respond to questions on assessments. We need to provide our students with writing workshops and tools to allow them to gain the skills of a proficient writer. Having the time to do this in a school day if difficult in this climate, but far too important to exclude. Encouraging children to write about anything that interests them, without prompts and rules, can be beneficial to sparking a love and development in writing skills in students. It also should be noted that giving children prompts, guidelines, and suggestions for their writing can also help scaffold their skills. Implementing writing into every subject is a great way to encourage that love for writing. In addition, giving students time to free write as a reward for having their work completed or using it at the end of the day when there is time leftover is a great way to throw it in even on the busiest days.
At the end of the day, we as educators have a responsibility to encourage our students' love and growth in all areas of communication, beginning with drawings, moving on to writing, and hopefully achieving that end goal of total literacy.