Drawing To Retell

“Drawing to Retell” is one of my all-time favorite quick writing strategies.  It can be used with any topic and can serve
as a pre or post assessment.  I’ve shared
this strategy with many teachers across the State of Utah and the feedback has
been unanimously positive.  I had the
opportunity to use this strategy with a group of first graders last week and
was reminded once again of my love for it.
If you have not used this strategy with your kids, try it tomorrow.  I promise you won’t be disappointed.

 

 I selected the topic “wolf spiders” and checked
out a nonfiction book from the library.
Before reading the book to the class, I asked students to create a
drawing in the top box. We read the book together and discussed our new knowledge
about wolf spiders.  Then, I asked
students to create a second drawing of a wolf spider and to discuss their
drawings with a partner.  They compared
and contrasted their second drawing to the first and discussed new
learning.  Finally, students wrote about
the changes they made to their second drawing, explaining why they made those
changes.  -Emily

You can read more about this strategy in the following article.

Fello,
S.E., Jalongo, M.R., & Paquette, K.R., (2007).  The talking drawing strategy:  Using primary children’s illustrations and
oral language to improve comprehension of expository text, Early Childhood
Education Journal, 35(1), 65-73.