Do you struggle with motivation and engage-ment in your writing classroom? Try adding art! For several years in Cosby, MO, teachers Janis Pargas, 5th grade, and Mandy Scott, 3rd grade, have been using Picturing Writing to foster literacy through image making in their classrooms.
After attending the Laboratory for Interactive Learning at the University of New Hampshire and a Picturing Writing Workshop, we both began integrating art and writing in the curriculum. Soon thereafter, other teachers were doing the same. Classroom teachers then began collaborating with art teachers and computer teachers to create units that allowed for cross-curricular creative writing.
Students at Avenue City Elementary School have been successfully using art as a catalyst for many types of writing. Based on the idea of Picturing Writing by Beth Olshansky, students paint with a brush first and then paint with words resulting in a finished work of art. This writing strategy can be integrated in many areas of your curriculum at any grade level, as it aligns with Common Core Standards and helps students develop a love of words!
When implementing the Picturing Writing strategy, at the beginning of writing time, students start with a picture. By first creating a picture, students have a visual aid to help create word pictures through their writing. This picture is created by using crayon resist and watercolor techniques to paint time-of-day pictures, character portraits, or problem and solution pictures. A typical painting might include a tree, the sun, a hill, and clouds. Using these elements in the image, students will find it fun and easy to pick descriptive words to add details, incorporate literary elements--such as simile, metaphor, and alliteration, and use their five senses.
This strategy, which can be used in any grade level kindergarten through high school, can be used in various ways, such as writing descriptive paragraphs, “I am” or cinquain poems, self-illustrated research-based books, or short stories with character and plot elements. If used with informational texts, students can use their work of art as a starting point for research into a chosen topic. All students have the opportunity to succeed because many skill levels and subject areas can be reached through these lessons.
At Avenue City Elementary School, students' test scores in communication arts have increased since the implementation of this process nearly a decade ago. Recently, we presented our teaching strategies at the 2014 Write to Learn Conference in Tan-Tar-A. The participants were enthusiastic about image writing and discussed using it in at-risk schools, in various grade levels, and diverse school settings throughout the state of Missouri. We hope that we have inspired other teachers to support and encourage their own students' writing through integrating art.
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The Art of Writing
Classroom Close-Up
by Janis Pargas and Mandy Scott
Janis Pargas has taught 5th grade for the last 10 years. She received her BS in elementary edu-cation and masters in educational leadership from NWMSU. Mandy Scott has taught 3rd grade for the last 14 years. She received her BS in elementary/early childhood education and masters in instructional technology from NWMSU.