The art is in the details: Using visual literacy to promote staying on topic and writing with details in an elementary classroom

Research question. How might implementing visual literacy as a writing strategy increase students' ability to write with more detail and stay on topic?;Sub questions. (1) By using ability to stay on topic and write with detail as the parameters for success, which elements of visual literacy implemented in this intervention had a greater impact on the success of the writer? (2) Which element of visual literacy implemented did the students like best?;Research activities. Context: This inquiry process was implemented in a self-contained first grade classroom of twenty students. The research focused on seven students, which included five English language learners. Rationale. The purpose of the intervention was to explore the arts and visual literacy as a strategy for teaching students to write on topic and with descriptive details. Methods and data. The three visual literacy strategies used were detailed drawings, photographs, and cultural/personal objects. In the first strategy students made their own detailed drawings as a pre-writing activity. In the second they chose a photograph that was personally interesting to them to write about. The third strategy allowed the students to bring in a cultural/personal artifact from home, thus adding a rich home-school connection. Each strategy also included verbal discussion, a read-aloud, and teacher modeling, and scaffolding the strategy from whole class to individual. Data collection included baseline and post-intervention writing assessments, observational notes using selective verbatim, and in-the-midst writing samples for each of the three strategies. Students were assessed according to a 0-4 point scale writing rubric. To increase the home-school connection, families came in at the end of the five-week intervention process for a writing celebration where students could share their work. Results. Individual student performance was tracked over the five-week period. Comparisons of baseline and outcome data indicate that six of the seven focus students made a one or two point jump in their writing according to the teacher-created writing rubric. Only one student kept the same score throughout the process. At the end of the inquiry, students were able to write on topic and with descriptive detail.;Grade level. First Grade Data Collection Methods: Survey - Attitude, Observation- Field notes, Writing assessment, Writing samples, Writing assessments, Quick writes, Photographs Curriculum Areas: English Language Arts, Writing.;Instructional approaches. Class discussion, Arts-based education, Writing-Description, Assessment, Children's Literature, Community-Building, Oral Language.