Welcome back – I apologise for the long break in between blogs. There are a number of reasons why I haven’t added a posting for a while, but I am back now. I hope you will find this posting helpful.
“To become truly literate, children need to learn to create, comprehend and use single mode (written, visual or spoken) and multimodal texts” (Mackenzie, 2022).
Over the past three years I have been lucky to work closely with teachers in classrooms and see how DTWS is working so well in different contexts. As a consequence, the process and my understandings of children, teaching and learning continue to grow.
DTWS creates the space for students to explore their meaning making processes through drawing and talking, with writing introduced as an additional mode of meaning making. This approach is highly successful during the first two years of school.
I have also been doing quite a bit of Teacher Pl with teachers from different states and sectors. What follows are some thoughts that I have been sharing in my PL sessions that may be timely reminders if you are using this Pedagogical Approach.
A key belief behind DTWS is to start with what children know and can do – and build on – along with a belief that emotions and cognition are intertwined – when children fear failure, they are not able to learn – Vygotsky called this connection between emotion and cognition Perezhivanie (Veresov & Fleer, 2016).
DTWS AIM
The aim of DTWS is to assist children to create multimodal texts – so that any time they are asked to write they can call on multiple modes rather than just the written word. Initially we need to provide scaffolds for children – by modelling and demonstrating the processes involved in multimodal text creation.
Students must learn how to plan, draft, revise, edit, and share to master writing. The DTWS process prepares them for these processes.
DTWS is not a program
DTWS is a pedagogical approach – NOT a program and there is no script to follow. It is dynamic and flexible and can be adapted to different student needs and stages of learning. While there is a structure designed to support our earliest writers in the first year of school, it is then able to be used flexibly by teachers.
‘TEXT CREATION’ rather than ‘WRITING’
I prefer to use the term’ text creation’ when talking to students, as this conjures up the notion of more than one mode (multimodal texts). In contrast ‘writing’ leads to an expectation of ‘the written word’ or single mode texts.
Multimodal Text creation
Learning about text creation
Children learn about creating texts through:
How educators “respond and what they value helps to form children’s attitudes towards writing and determine the paths their learning journeys will follow.” (Mackenzie, 2014, p. 189).
If you say you value drawing as a meaning making process, you must also demonstrate this with your actions –
- what you praise,
- what you display, and
- what you share with families.
Sadly, some children are entering the first year of school with little experience of drawing. They haven’t learnt how to express themselves through drawing. Nor have they developed pencil grasp or understandings of how hard to push the pencil or even how to hold the paper with their other hand as they draw. These are important skills needed for drawing and for writing. Do not assume they know how to draw.
There is a wonderful (recent) episode of Bluey on iView – Dragon – that would be worth sharing with your students. There are fabulous discussions about learning to draw. I highly recommend it (thank you to the lovely teacher who told me about it).
I also recommend two books by Peter Reynolds: Ish and The dot
DTWS FRAMEWORK
Model multimodal text creation as students watch (This is a temporary scaffold)
| Teacher Modelling | Teacher Scaffolding | |
| Day 1 | Draw a Simple drawing (2-3 mins) thinking aloud (Do not be tempted to show off – keep it simple) | Scaffold students in small groups as they draw (10-15 mins) |
| Day 2 | Add details to drawing (2-3 mins) thinking aloud | Scaffold students in small groups as they add details to yesterday’s drawing (10-15 mins) |
| Day 3 | Add 3-4 labels (3 mins) thinking aloud | Scaffold students in small groups as they add some labels to their drawings (10-15 mins) |
| Day 4 | Use labels – compose & write a sentence (3 mins) thinking aloud (May add more to their text later and share completed text with children) | Scaffold students in small groups as they use their labels to create a sentence (10-15 mins) |
*This framework can be modified as children become more skilled and comfortable with the process. When you think the time is right, you might combine days 2 and 3. You may also model more than one sentence. Coming back to add details on day 2 is critical to the idea that we rarely finish creating a text in one day so do not be tempted to combine days 1 and 2.
Sharing multimodal texts – first teach them how to share
Children need to be taught how to share – how to make eye contact, listen and respond. Don’t assume they will know how to share. I like to bring another adult into the room to demonstrate this – we have our own multimodal texts and we model the sharing process.
Observations during small group time
Observe what children are doing as they construct their own texts – to determine what they need to learn. Are they transferring what is being taught in Interactive Writing lessons (and other literacy lessons) into their writing? Are their drawings becoming more detailed? If their texts have more than 3 sentences, are they cohesive?
WHAT DO STUDENTS DO DURING DTWS?
CHANGE OVER TIME
Once children have more skills and confidence, we want them to be able to use the modes of expression in whatever order supports their text creation. They may start by drawing, and go to writing, or they may start with writing and go to drawing. Ideally, they will go back and forth between these two modes as needed. They will also have time to talk through their ideas and share with their classmates.
Free Drawing and Writing Books
A lot of teachers use blank scrap books for DTWS. If you choose to give the students ownership of the process of meaning making you may like to call these books free, drawing and writing books and provide a message at the front for parents.
Topics for DTWS
DTWS can be used in any school discipline (e.g. Science, English, PD, H, PE) and the topics are up to you. I like to work with a shared topic or experience so that I can expand student vocabulary and content knowledge while we draw, talk and write. We are teaching children how to create texts in any learning area – not adding another lesson to what is already a very crowded timetable.
What do teachers say about DTWS:
The following quotes are from teachers using DTWS.
‘DTWS supports oral language development – provides for increased talking and listening opportunities.’
‘DTWS is such an easy, sensible approach to implement.’
‘DTWS allows me to show parents I value their child’s drawings, their voice and their multimodal texts.’
‘DTWS supports getting to know the students – spending quality, purposeful time, really hearing the student voice – discovering their oral strengths and weaknesses, noticing pencil grip and drawing experience.’
‘Students’ responses have shown a much deeper understanding of oral language than I have been able to assess previously.’
‘Willingness to share ideas has increased’
‘Students love the opportunity to draw and talk together . . .show an interest in each other’s drawings and asking questions’
‘No blank pages and lots of amazing drawings – students love it’
‘Going back to add further details – prepares students for revising writing’
‘Increased detail of drawings’
‘The power of the labels – The labels have been an amazing support for my reluctant writers’
‘Students are learning that they can construct a text using drawings, labels and written sentences’
‘DTWS works so well in Science.’
‘Even my most reluctant writers are enthusiastic about this process’
‘Drawings help my good writers structure their writing and help when they have writer’s block’
‘I was surprised I had so many students who started school and did not know how to draw’
That is enough for now. I will add a blog discussing DTWS as an Observation Tool next time.
References
Mackenzie, N. (2022). Multimodal text creation from day 1 with Draw, Talk, Write, Share. The California Reader 55(1), 9-14.
Mackenzie, N. M. (2014). Teaching early writers: Teachers’ responses to a young child’s writing sample. Australian Journal of Language & Literacy, 37(3), 182-191.
Veresov, N., & Fleer, M. (2016). Perezhivanie as a theoretical concept for researching young children’s development. Mind, culture and activity, 23(4). https://doi.org/10.1080/10749039.2016.1186196