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The ability to communicate with precision is a valuable skill for students in their personal and professional lives. For example, a person writes directions to her party so guests don’t get lost en route. A wife describes to her husband over the phone where to find their child’s medication. A product developer describes a product feature to an overseas manufacturer. A pilates instructor cues her class how to make complex movements on the reformer. The technical writer writes a user’s manual for a software package. A technical support assistant walks a less tech-savvy customer through the steps of setting up a satellite receiver or computer. We can go on and on.
Draw-What-I-Write is a powerful structure for developing written communication skills. Through practice and interaction, students learn what works and what doesn’t. They learn that they often have more or different information in their head than the other student. They learn how to see things through the eyes of another and how to describe things for understanding. Draw-What-I-Write develops communication and perspective-taking skills through engaging interaction.
Students…
…learn to write with precision and without ambiguity.
…learn editing skills.
…take the role of the other.
…learn to read for details.
…practice respectful listening.
…learn to follow written instructions.
…learn to give concise instructions.
Getting Ready: Each student needs a drawing sheet, a writing sheet, and a pen or pencil.
Step 1
Teacher Provides Direction
The teacher outlines the parameters of the drawing and models a sample drawing for students. “You will draw a robot like this one using simple shapes. Think about how you will describe your drawing in writing so your partner can re-create the drawing.”
Step 2
Students Draw
Students independently make their drawings, each on his or her own sheet of paper.
Step 3
Students Write Instructions
With their drawings in front of them, students write step-by-step instructions how to re-create the drawing on a separate sheet of paper, skipping every other line. They try to be as specific as possible. For example, “First, draw an oval in the middle of the paper. Make the oval taller than wide. That’s the robot’s body. Next, draw his head. For his head, draw a circle above the oval…”.
Step 4
Students Pair Up
Students pair up with a partner who has not seen their drawing. They exchange only the written instructions.
Step 5
Students Draw
Using their partner’s written description, students re-create the drawing.
Step 6
Partner A Reveals Original
When both students are done drawing, or when time is called, Partner A reveals his or her original drawing. As a pair, they take turns discussing what was easy to follow and what was difficult and how they could improve their instructions.
Step 7
Pairs Edit
They work as a pair to rewrite the directions.
Step 8
Switch Roles
Partner B reveals his or her original, the pair discusses improvements, and then they work together to edit Partner B’s instructions.
Step 9
Students Re-Test Instructions
After both partners have edited their instructions, they pair up again with a new partner and test each other’s edited instructions by asking their new partner to draw what they have written.
Different ability level groups may be required to draw and describe more complex figures. For example, “Draw a robot consisting of four geometric figures” vs. “Draw a robot consisting of five geometric figures and three unconnected freehand lines.”
Contrast two approaches to improving writing skills: the traditional approach has students write and then receive feedback from their teacher. The teacher is the evaluator. Draw-What-I-Write is totally different. Students receive feedback about their writing by seeing what their writing does! The student is a self-evaluator. Via immediate peer feedback, students see what worked and what did not in their writing and are motivated to improve. Draw-What-I-Write lends itself well to differentiated instruction; students can write to describe more or less complicated figures, depending on their developmental stage.
Step-by-Step. Another way to do Draw-What-I-Write is to allow students to illustrate the item step-by-step and provide instructions for each step.