Encouraging students to draw pictures at the beginning of the writing process inspires them to imagine and express their ideas. Drawing helps students to organize their ideas and to add lots of details, which tends to make the actual writing part of the process much easier and more enjoyable. Although drawing does require setting aside some extra time, the benefits are well worth the time investment.
Benefits of Drawing Before Writing
Drawing inspires children to think creatively. As children draw their ideas, they begin to tell a story. As they draw, they make decisions about important details related to the characters, the setting and the plot. A detailed drawing can help students to organize their ideas visually before they need to commit it to words on a page.
Many students struggle to generate words and ideas when they are asked to write. Young writers often know many more words than they can write, which allows them to draw details that they may not initially be able to describe through writing. Starting with a drawing can make the process less stressful, and it makes writing easier because there is a detailed picture to write about.
3 Ways to Incorporate Drawing in the Writing Process
- Younger learners love using “story paper,” which has a space for a drawing at the top and lines for writing at the bottom. Click here for printable “story paper” to use with your students.
With this type of paper, teachers simply provide students with a writing prompt and then allow students time to draw their ideas before writing. - If students are being asked to write a story, using empty comic strips as a template can be a fun way to get started. Students would draw the events of their story in each of the comic strip boxes. This helps students to plan and order the story as well as to visualize the details they will want to include in their writing. The illustrated comic strips serve as helpful outlines for students when they begin writing.
- In situations where a graphic organizer like a Venn Diagram or T-chart is being used, the format can be modified to include drawings. Students could draw pictures to represent their ideas instead of writing in the organizer, or the organizer could be enlarged to make space for both small drawings and text. This is especially helpful once topics become more complex in the older grades.
Getting Started
Incorporating drawing with writing activities in the classroom is simple. The teacher should share the writing prompt and ask the students to start by drawing a picture or pictures to represent their answers. Once their answers are drawn, students should then be given an opportunity to share their drawings with partners or small groups. These conversations can help to increase students’ vocabulary and add additional details, both of which will be helpful when students are writing.
By spending just a few extra minutes of class time drawing before students begin writing activities, teachers can drastically improve the experience for students. Students will have an easier time getting started, will be more confident in their work, and will be able to produce better writing overall. Not needing the larget size paper? I have a smaller size with 2 on a page for you. To get started, click here for a link to free printable handwriting paper.
Join our community to get tips and ideas for teaching!