"Drawing to Learn" as a Component of "Writing to Learn"

There IS a difference between learning to write and writing to learn.  Writing to learn includes a multitude of opportunities where teachers intentionally pause and engage students in low stakes writing practices so students can think critically, clarify ideas, capture big ideas, and transfer thinking down on paper. (In a digital world, the process of blogging is connected to writing to learn.) To learn more, read another blog post of mine on the core ideas of writing to learn.

This brings me to the focus of this post; is drawing to learn a component of writing to learn? Yes! Absolutely! Most definitely!  Let me explain...if the practice of using writing to learn is focused on its purpose, then surely drawing can serve the exact same purpose. Drawing can be used so students capture the big ideas. Drawing can be used so students transfer thinking down on paper. Drawing can be used to think critically. In fact, using drawing may be a greater benefit to students who are more visual. (Personally speaking, I AM a visual learner. It DRIVES ME CRAZY when I can't explain my ideas through drawing or a graphic organizer.)

When I reflect on this graphic, it reminds me that teachers can always use brief writing and drawing experiences to support thinking. These experiences are intentionally designed so students are able to to express their ideas without feeling like the writing is a formal, published piece of writing. Don't get me wrong...we want students to express their ideas with clarity - we want students to use academic vocabulary - we want writing to have a sense of organization...but we must be cautious to ask for products that involve planning, revising, editing, and publishing. Writing is NOT always the writing process, writing is frequently connected to the thinking process. You might think of the difference as "high stakes writing" and "low stakes writing."   (In addition, writing to learn provides the perfect pathway for students apply critical thinking skills of analyzing, comparing/contrasting, summarizing, synthesizing, etc. Here's a comprehensive list of critical thinking skills.)

Writing to learn is about communicating ideas informally in multiple ways. While words can communicate ideas, so can drawings. In "education speak," we often think of drawings (and graphic organizers such as Thinking Maps) as being included in the general group of nonlinguistic representations. We can encourage students to think abstractly and in different ways as they step out of their comfort zone to demonstrate ideas in drawings. Now that you're with me, take a peek at this video on Why Nonlinguistic Representations Are Important.

So, how might you use drawing as a way of supporting student thinking? Here are some potential ways.

• When young readers employ the strategy of visualization, we might ask students to draw what they are visualizing.
• When young historians learn about an event in history, we might ask students to capture the event in a drawing and write a few sentences to describe the event.
• When young scientists are learning about chemical reactions, we might ask students to draw the chemical reaction and use words to describe what's happening in the drawing.
• When we ask students to "take notes," we're asking students to capture the big ideas and supporting details. We might ask students to include simple drawings with each big idea. 
• When young geographers gather data about a physical region, we might ask them to draw a picture that shows how a particular element of the physical region would impact people.
• When young mathematicians are working through a problem, we might ask them to draw the problem as a tool to think about the problem solving process. 

To learn more, access some of these links.

• The Power of Student Created Visuals (Blog Posting)
• Drawing to Learn (Learning Sciences Research Institute)
• Representing Knowledge Non-linguistically (ASCD)
• Silvia Rosenthal's archived blog posts on Using Sketchnoting in Learning
• Brain Rules: Vision (and Effective Visuals) Trumps All the Other Senses

What is "writing to learn"? What expectations might I need to establish and model?

Today, we know a lot more about teaching and learning than we did just ten years ago.  One key strategy we must use continually is writing to learn.  It's easy to say that writing takes place in all contents, the question is...Are you incorporating WRITING TO LEARN with INTENTIONALITY?  Writing to learn allows students to explore thinking and to comprehend deeply.  Writing to learn allows students to keep track of their thinking and to effectively share clear thinking .

Take a peek at this video from the Teaching Channel to see more informal writing to learn in action. 

Writing to Learn - The More Formal Type

Sometimes we incorporate formal opportunities for writing to learn.  With students, teachers establish expectations and model the thinking that's needed for more formal writing to learn experiences.  More formal writing to learn experiences are probably planned in advance.  So students are successful, teachers may find that they need to revisit expectations and continue to model how thinkers pull together their ideas for more formal writing to learn experiences. Some examples of expectations that might need to be established and modeled for more formal writing to learn experiences include:

1) Choose words wisely (use accurate, precise language)

2) Use content-specific, academic vocabulary

3) Consider your purpose and audience

     -to describe an object or event

     -to support a position or opinion

     - to explain a process or sequence

     - to summarize ideas

4)  Summarize ideas effectively

     -create a main/central idea statement when appropriate

     - capture the "big ideas"

     - support claims with evidence

     - support thinking with clear reasons

     - eliminate small details

     - include your lingering questions

5) Use drawing, charts, graphs, and tables to support your ideas

  

Writing to Learn - The More Informal Type

Frequently, teachers offer more informal opportunities for students to use writing to learn.  These experiences potentially take place on a daily basis and may be planned or impromptu.  Students might need informal write to learn opportunities to jot down their thinking related to an essential question, to write an exit slip from class, to collect ideas/information related to a topic, or to explain how their thinking has changed related to a skill or process.  These are just a few ways that informal writing to learn takes place in class, yet all opportunities are grounded in the thinking that we are asking students to do. These more informal opportunities allow teachers to see into the thinking of students while allowing students to pull their thoughts together, clarify their own thinking, and connect the dots in their learning. With students, teachers establish expectations for this type of writing and model what it might look like.  Expectations are established so the informal opportunities support a student's ability to be organized and their ability to communicate effectively with writing while continuing to elevate academic vocabulary. Some examples of expectations that might need to be established and modeled for more informal writing to learn experiences include:

1) Choose words wisely (use accurate, precise language)

2) Use content-specific, academic vocabulary

3) Consider how information is organized or how ideas are shared

     - use graphic organizers

     - use titles, headings and subheadings

     - use bulleted or numbered lists

     - use charts and tables

     - determine how to effectively show cause and effect

     - determine how to effectively compare and contrast

4) Determine if words, phrases or sentences are necessary