Writing and Directed Drawing: Arts Integration for Primary & Elementary
Write and draws are an opportunity to blend the benefits of writing or handwriting practice with the joys of directed drawing. It is using art as a prompt for writing, blending two forms of creativity. As an artist, I always grew up doodling and drawing. You might have those kids in your class too- the ones who doodle in the margins of their paper. That doodling helps our brains focus on listening and also can be used to spark creativity. So let’s dive in on ways to blend the joys of art and drawing and using it as a prompt for writing, blending literacy and art for arts integrated activities.
Disclaimer: This description contains affiliate links, which means I get a commission should you make a purchase.
What are Write and Draws?
Write and draws are worksheets that are what they sound like: they have both components of writing and drawing. Typically there is a directed drawing space in the top half of the printable or worksheet, and the bottom half allows for writing. Depending on the age of your students or children (in the case of homeschooling), you might have paragraph writing OR sentence writing practice.
The write and draws can be even more effective if they’re themed so they draw on student’s current interests. This could be seasonal themes such as Autumn or Winter, or it can be themed for Holidays such as Halloween or Back to School or Christmas, or for more generic themes you can have them for Months of the Year. This way they speak to student’s current interests and also can change throughout the year.
How do Write and Draws benefit learning?
Write and draws blend fine motor skills practice through both drawing and writing. The directed drawing portion helps by capturing the imagination and interests of the students so they WANT to engage in the lesson. It helps engage all the learners in your classroom (especially the visual learners like me, or the ones who have trouble focusing on listening to lectures or instructions (also like me)) through engaging them in high interest directed drawings that kids actually WANT to draw.
The directed drawings are beneficial for improving fine motor skills, improving drawing skills and adding details to art, beneficial for learning how to draw, and are also beneficial for:
-following directions
-improved confidence
-engaging ALL students in learning
-improved listening
-boosting creativity
-spatial awareness
-calming
Directed drawings are then followed up by either sentence or paragraph writing that is inspired by the drawings. This gives students ideas of WHAT to write. It’s not just asking them to write a paragraph- they will already have ideas building in their minds because they will have their own drawing or artwork to spark their ideas of WHAT to write.
In one worksheet, students can have both drawing and writing practice, making these high interest, high output resources to have in your classroom or homeschooling program.
When to Use Write and Draws
Write and Draws are super flexible and easy to implement into your classroom. You can use them as part of your literacy program and use it as a writing activity in English Language Arts. You can also use them as part of literacy centers, changing them for each season or holidays or months of the year.
Other ways to use your writing and directed drawing pages is to use them for fast finishers, bell ringers, or sub plans in your classroom. They are flexible to use and can be used in any way you can think of! You can use them as a quick activity or turn them into a full lesson.
How to add other arts mediums into Literacy
If you’re looking for other ways to add arts into your lesson to further encourage arts integration, you could start by playing music while students work. Play a classical music playlist while students work on their write and draws to not only engage your visual learners, but this way you can engage your auditory learners as well.
You can also also add movement by having students stand up, push in their chairs, and letting them do the directed drawing portion standing or moving or dancing with music on (something like classical or cafe jazz music where they don’t get too wild), before they return to sitting or just standing still to do the writing portion. The quality of the drawings MIGHT be affected if they are dancing, but their brains and bodies might benefit from the experience! And you don’t have to do it every time. It really depends on what you want your learning experience to be about and the takeaways of your students.
For me, I would value a deep learning session where students are engaged in learning and I am reaching ALL my types of learners OVER the quality of drawing in this case (but I would still expect quality writing). At the end after doing many write and draws (let’s say 10), I would have students pick one of them to re-do and have them turn it into a full page artwork where they can either choose the art mediums to create it with, or you can choose. This is a great idea for an extension for the write and draws! They’re this flexible!
Where to Find Write and Draw Activities for Year Long Learning
There are Write and Draws available for all the months of the year, the seasons, and all the holidays (Valentine’s Day, St. Patrick’s Day, Halloween, you name it!) and you can find them by clicking here.
There are also other types of Write and Draws available such Numbers 0-20, 50 CVC Words, and Alphabet Write and Draws.
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