The Talking Drawings Strategy: Using Primary Children's Illustrations and Oral Language to Improve Comprehension of Expository Text

Authors: Paquette, Kelli; Fello, Susan E.; Jalongo, Mary

Source: Early Childhood Education Journal, Volume 35, Number 1, August 2007 , pp. 65-73(9)

Publisher: Springer

Abstract:

Listening and reading comprehension can be assessed by analyzing children's visual, verbal, and written representations of their understandings. “Talking Drawings” (McConnell, S. (1993). Talking drawings: A strategy for assisting learners. Journal of Reading, 36(4), 260-269 is one strategy that enables children to combine their prior knowledge with the new information derived from an expository text and “translate” those newly-acquired understandings into other symbol systems, including an oral discussion with a partner, a more detailed drawing, and written labels for the drawing. The Talking Drawings strategy begins by inviting children to create pre-learning drawings. These initial drawings are a way of taking inventory of a child's current content knowledge about a particular topic. After pre-learning drawings are created and shared, children listen to or read an expository text (e.g., information book, passage from a textbook) on the same topic as their drawing. Pairs of students discuss the information and either modify their pre-learning drawings to be more detailed or create completely new drawings that reflect the recently-acquired information. Students are encouraged to label their drawings with words in a diagram or schematic fashion. By evaluating the “before” and “after” artwork, educators can identify advances in students' reading and listening comprehension of the terminology, facts, and principles on a particular topic.

Keywords: talking drawings; children's artwork; listening comprehension; reading comprehension, expository texts

Document Type: Research article

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10643-007-0184-5

Affiliations: 1: Email: kpaquett@iup.edu

Publication date: 2007-08-01

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