Picture- W riting Fusion: Scaffolded writing instruction for the inclusive classroom

1. Picture-Writing Fusion:Scaffoldedwriting instruction for the inclusive classroom Vanessa Keener Coastal Savannah Writing Project February 2, 2013 Armstrong Center

2. Need • Students need to learn basic writing skills early on, so when they hit upper elementary grades their creative writing skills can blossom. • Students need to understand the power of illustrations, what they mean, and how to effectively use them to add meaning. • Students need to be able to critically analyze graphic media. • Studying pictures can help with visualization skills thus increasing comprehension in reading and the development of visual / spatial perception skills.

3. Common Core State Standards • ELACCKW1: Use a combination of drawing, dictating, and writing to compose opinion pieces in which they tell a reader the topic or the name of the book they are “writing” about and state an opinion or preference about the topic or book (e.g., My favorite book is…). • ELACCKW2: Use a combination of drawing, dictating, and writing to compose informative/explanatory texts in which they name what they are writing about and supply some information about the topic. • ELACCKW3: Use a combination of drawing, dictating, and writing to narrate a single event or several loosely linked events, tell about the events in the order in which they occurred, and provide a reaction to what happened. • ELACCKW5: With guidance and support from adults, respond to questions and suggestions from peers and add details to strengthen writing as needed. • ELACCKW6: With guidance and support from adults, explore a variety of digital tools to produce and publish writing, including in collaboration with peers. • ELACCKW7: Participate in shared research and writing projects (e.g., explore a number of books by a favorite author and express opinions about them). • ELACCKW8: With guidance and support from adults, recall information from experiences or gather information from provided sources to answer a question.

4. Research It is widely recognized that visual cues help students with language deficits acquire language and communication skills. I took that premise and applied it to all learners and infused concepts from Katie Wood Ray and Kimbery A. Henry’s texts with best writing practices gleaned from the Coastal Savannah Writing Project to create the Picture-Writing Fusion strategy.

5. Picture–Writing Fusion • What is Picture-Writing Fusion? • A strategy that utilizes pictures to teach writing concepts at all levels across genres, modes and content areas. • This strategy can be utilized with: • Novice writers -teaches sentence construction. • Beginning writers -adds meaning to their writing. • Intermediate writers -teaches illustration techniques that enhance their writing. • Advance writers –Teaches higher level thinking and depth of knowledge.

6. Picture–Writing Fusion • This strategy can be easily differentiated to reach all populations of students including ELL, EIP, SpEd, RtI, and gifted. • Picture-Writing Fusion can be incorporated into informational, narrative, and persuasive modes. • Picture-Writing Fusion implements many elements of a strong writing program (see table).

7. Picture–Writing Fusion

8. Activity:Novice level Sentence construction using pictures. • You are teaching your students to construct sentences using words. They may be a non- reader and have limited verbal language skills; you can use Picture –Writing fusion to help. • Give students choices of pictures to construct the thought/ idea. • Content area vocabulary picture boards can me made available to students for this purpose. • Students are able to choose the pictures that convey their intended meaning and construct sentences visually. Words can be added and pictures can be faded. Simply make pictures smaller and words larger. Helpful Hint: Use the same symbols (paired with verbal cues) for frequently used words / phrases like, “I see”, this will build independence.

9. Kindergarten Student Example Pictures are not needed for the sentence stem; in this case the class does this and similar writing activities frequently and can read the stem with help.

10. Activity:Novice level • Your class is writing sentences about your trip to the Wild Life Refuge. Use these pictures to construct a sentence. Fish Shells Think pair share a similar activity you could implement in your class. At the refuge (images from Straight Street Ltd, 2006)

11. Activity:Beginner level Use drawings to supplement writing. • You are teaching students who know the basics of writing. They can draw pictures to add details and meaning that they are not able to yet express in written terms. What is some information the can reader gather from the illustration that would otherwise not be gleaned from the text alone? (Pust, n.d.)

12. Kindergarten Student Example This student used a mentor text as a sentence stem (The moon sees…) and a poster of day and night pictures to complete her thought. Her picture adds a sense of time, and additional details that she did not write about.

13. Activity:Beginner level • Think about a trip you’ve taken. • Write a simple sentence and create an Illustration that adds detail and meaning beyond your text. Think about how you could incorporate this into your ELA or content area in routines.

14. Activity:Intermediate level Learn illustration techniques and use them to add meaning to writing. • Katie Wood Ray (2010) outlines 50 illustration techniques in her text In Pictures and In Words. • The techniques are categorized by what they convey: • Ideas and Content • Precision and Detail • Wholeness of Text • Tone • Layout and Design

15. Activity:Intermediate level • Technique #20 Creating the Illusion of Motion with Detail • Can be done at all ability levels. • Use a mentor Text to teach techniques. (Bourgeous, 2008) (Growing Kinders, 2012)

16. Activity:Intermediate level Technique # 21 Creating the Illusion of Sound with Details • Katie Wood Ray’s idea for trying out this strategy: “If you were making a book about the time you scored a goal in your soccer game, you could certainly show how everyone was cheering by simply drawing lots of folk with their mouths open. You’ll probably want their bodies to be in cheering sorts of positions too, but the wide open mouths will certainly create the feeling of sound” (p. 161). • Now think of an experience you’ve had where sound is important to your writing and try this out. • Think of a favorite picture book which utilizes graphic techniques that could be used as a mentor text for conveying Ideas and Content, Precision and Detail, Wholeness of Text, Tone or Layout and Design.

17. Activity:Advanced level Deconstruct, analyze and explain illustration techniques used. • Again, Katie Wood Ray’s 50 illustration techniques can be used to teach students to interpretor deconstruct pictures to find hidden meanings. • Guided practice and modeling are a must with students new to thisconcept. • Students can do this with propaganda posters, politicalcartoons, video and book jackets and story books as appropriate to grade level and content area.

18. Activity:Advanced level Let’s Try This… • Aside from the text, what do the images colors, and details tell you? • Think of an image you could use to implement this into one of your content areas. Great for idea generation, cross curricular writing and reader responses. (Thomas, 2011)

19. References Bourgeous, J. (2011). Xeroxed images [Drawing]. Retieved from http://othello.alma.edu/~parks/images/webportfolios/studentportfolios/drawing/content/ Student_Drawings_12_large.html Growing Kinders. (2012, July 6). In pictures and in words – chapter 8 [Blog Post]. Retrieved from http://growingkinders.blogspot.com/2012/07/in-pictures-and-in- wordschapter-8.html Henry, K. A. (2010). How do I teach this kid to read?: teaching literacy skills to young children with autism, from phonics to fluency. Arlington, Tex.: Future Horizons. Pust, L. (n.d.). Topic mini research lesson plan. Retrieved from http:// www.valdosta.edu/~llpust/topiclesson.html Ray, K. W. (2010). In pictures and in words: teaching the qualities of good writing through illustration study. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann. Rocket Tours: the Art of Steven Thomas. (2011, April 26). Office Propaganda posters-finally got around to them [Blog Post]. Retrieved from http://stevethomasart.blogspot.com/ 2011/04/office-propaganda-posters-finally-got.html StraightStreet Ltd. (2006). Retrieved from http://straight-street.com/gallery.php Roessing, L. (2012). Coastal Savannah Writing Project. Savannah, Ga.

20. Description/Proposal • Picture- Writing fusion will help students of all levels and abilities develop writing. • Teachers can implementPicture-Writing fusion to help students develop basic skills to depth of knowledge and higher level thinking skills. • Students will love the interactive and engaging nature of using visuals in writing class. • Writing-Picture fusion can be used in conjuction with other writing activities and strategies and can be used for all modes and genres of writing.