Drawing - An important part of learning

Though I may be a music educator most of the time, I am passionate about all of the Arts!

Below is a excerpt taken from "30 Days of Drawing"- A DAILY DRAWING PROGRAM FOR PRESCHOOL, ELEMENTARY, AND JUNIOR SECONDARY LEARNER.

You may find some things that music teachers can use, or ideas that you may share with other educators. For the whole article go to www.crescendo.com.au, Downloads, Visual Arts.

Happy Drawing

Children use drawing as language. Indeed, because drawing is spontaneous and independent of cultural norms, it is their most expressive language while learning the codes of literacy. The content of children's drawings is far more complex and subtle than their verbal equivalent could possibly be. Fortunately there is no competition between the two; ‑it is now well known that drawing and words flourish in a symbiotic relationship. When children draw, they use words simultaneously ‑ S.L.Jent for the most part but occasionally audible ‑ and vocabulary and syntax are enriched by the complexity and subtlety of drawing's subject matter. Drawing stimulates literacy in other ways; caring adults engage children in conversation as a way to motivate drawing. The finished work provides opportunities for beginning writing.

DRAWING THE WORLD WE KNOW:

Children get to know their world through direct experience or through books, movies, videos, and still photography. The brain is an efficient storehouse of mental imagery derived from these sources. The great art educator Viktor Lowenfeld refers to passive and active knowledge which directs us to the importance of motivation, the goal of which is to make passive knowledge active. For example: children will have had many experiences of different kinds of trees but their drawings will be more empirically correct if the teacher projects slides of different varieties when motivating drawings of the forest and its ecology.

DRAWING TO SOLVE PROBLEMS:

Children delight in finding imaginative solutions to mechanical problems to which they often apply wit and wisdom. Another advantage: those who have difficulties with realism may enjoy diagrammatic drawing. This activity is an important contributor to intellectual development and the scientific attitude.

* Problems are set by the teacher or brainstormed by children. The teacher explains that problem solving may Involve combinations of 1) words ‑ headings, labels, captions, expository prose, even poems; 2) drawings, charts, diagrams, cartoon sequences; and 3) numbers ‑ measurements, specifications, proportions.

* Individuals or small groups work on the problem and come up with solutions.

* These are photocopied and organized on a wall chart or mural. The originals remain in notebooks.

* A formal discussion determines their strengths and weaknesses. Students create a display poster of the best.