Glimpses Inside the Minds of Young Writers: How Children Plan Texts With Art

Abstract

ABSTRACT Many children find writing to be a challenge. This exploratory case study included four students with a learning disability who had writing goals/objectives in their individual education program. The students participated in a larger project in which they learned and practiced writing with an iPad art app. Planning a text with digital art offered students the opportunity to think about key questions that should be addressed in a story (e.g., who, when, where, what happened) and then illustrate their ideas. The focus of this study was to examine the effect of drawing on idea generation for writing. The researchers employed visual and thematic analysis methods to compare students’ texts with their iPad drawings. A general finding of this study was that art did indeed help the students generate ideas for their stories and, specifically, that: (1) art was aligned with written/spoken stories, (2) art allowed for multiple options to explore, (3) art served as a reminder about story details and story line, and (4) art served as a catalyst for adding details and drama to stories. Limitations to the study and ideas for future research are discussed.