|
|
As a significant disabilities special education teacher, I found myself nodding and saying "yes!" out loud through all three of the assignment readings. Writing is so hard for many students; both standard assessment students and alternate assessment students. Choosing a topic is hard, but I have found that even with story starters or writing prompts, kids have a hard time getting going. The rule in my classroom is, drawing is writing! My students know that during work on writing, they may choose to draw. When we meet later, we work on the story telling; ie. tell me about this, this color is great, what is happening here. From that conversation, we can work on putting those thoughts on paper as words. Drawing allows them an outlet from that mental block. Just start drawing and an entire story can develop from one line. A student can go from "I don't know what to write" to being completely immersed in their work, in seconds. Drawing is emergent writing. Every word in each of these articles is absolutely spot on; some of it is obviously opinion, but opinions that most of us teaching every day share. I have a student that loves music, singing, dancing, drawing; all the arts! I will have him for ESY in a few weeks and I am excited to incorporate the lesson that Elizabeth Peterson shared in the 2nd article. She had students listen to music and then develop writing samples from their interpretation of the music. The arts are truly the best way to bridge learning across all environments.
|
Locked
