Journal: Graphic Representation

Graphic representations are marks made that convey meaning and organize thought. In early childhood, children often start to draw before the age of two, either because it has happened by accident or as imitation of an observation. These marks become more and more intentional and symbolic as children have more and more opportunities to explore their own mark making abilities. According to Michaela Strauss, who has done extensive research on children’s early drawings, these early experiences with mark making and their intentionality and form speak a great deal to how the child prior to their third year, live in “movement and rhythm.” Around 3 years old, children’s rhythmic drawings begin to take on more symbolic form.

This is what we are seeing in the Treehouse. Children are beginning to become more and more intentional and symbolic with their drawings. Sometimes, it begins with an imitation of a peer’s drawing, sometimes it is an intrinsic motivation to represent a thought on their own, and sometimes it is prompted or provoked by Molly and me that they mark what they just said or what someone else said.

Graphic representations, or marks, are precursors to the written language, moreover, it is a more free form and free flowing way to interpret and make meaning of what children are observing or coming to understand. It takes the synchronization of thought, intention, focus, and movement.

“Children’s drawings convey significant milestones in all areas of development, be it social, affective, physical, or cognitive… in the area of physical development, children use the visual arts to represent their thoughts and ideas. As children talk to each other about their work, they clarify concepts, develop problem solving skills, enhance memory and observational skills, and practice language. Art is physical in the sense that children use their small muscles when attempting to control and manipulate brushes and crayons. And, finally, art is creative. Children bring their own ideas and views of their world to the art experience, and in the process, they grow towards the realization of their own creative potential” (Edwards, 2010, p. 156).

Drawing or mark making:

1. helps children form mental representation and fosters more freedom of thought
2. is an avenue for conducting research, enabling children to consolidate learning from many activities
3. encourages flexibility in children’s thinking, gives them a concrete way to express what they have learned, and sets the stage for using words to represent objects and actions in formal writing
4. is interrelated with writing- experiment with recording their ideas
5. supports higher level thinking skills, such as decision making, evaluation, and problem solving

According to the National Research Council (1998), teachers are able to encourage language literacy growth when they:

• allow enough time and space for play in the classroom
• provide the needed materials and resources
• develop children’s background knowledge for play setting
• scaffold rehearsals of dramatic retellings
• become involved in play settings as to guide children’s attention and learning through modeling and interaction

Molly and I are intentional about the time and space we provide for the children to explore their thinking. We have been careful and intentional about where to place writing materials as well as when to introduce new things to represent. We want to make sure mark making in our classroom keeps the integrity of the play that is happening as well as the children’s interests. I am going to delineate some of the strategies we are using to support children’s growing mark making interests.

This looks different from day to day. The children often observe Molly and me writing down their words, in fact, they often ask us to write down the things they are saying.

On a walk with the children on Tuesday February 10th, when I asked Austin to repeat something so I can write it down, he slowed down his words just the way a teacher would slow down the letters in order to ensure that every word he said would be written down. The children are well aware that writing is a tool that we use to remember things and to make thoughts or moments more permanent.

We have been getting mail from the Garden class a lot recently. First, they wrote us a letter asking us about tape they found in the Main Yard. They wanted to know if it was ours. We read this letter to the children and quickly the children recognized the tape as Alexander’s tape. In front of the children, we wrote back to the Garden class, using their words, letting them know that this tape belonged to Alexander.

We received another letter from the Garden just this week! The children in the Garden wanted to know what the Treehouse thought was beautiful as they are preparing to make another hanging article to replace the white paper one that is now getting too tattered to be up. Again, we had another authentic moment to model mark making and print as we wrote down their ideas.

Providing moments and materials as well as capitalizing on authentic opportunities to make marks (represent ideas)

Throughout the classroom, you will now find a variety of notebooks and pencils. Molly and I immediately set these out when we noticed the children were interested in making marks about what they were doing and what other students were doing. We often find them writing down the measurements to the things they are building, or writing down each other’s orders as they make food for one another, or they are making marks as they are involved in an experience. Moreover, we are seeing the children write more and more letters, we see this directly as a result of our opportunities to exchange mail with other classrooms. This has definitely sparked children’s interest in making mail in our classroom.

We also capitalize their interest on our small group walks. We know that mark making encourages organization of thought as well as memory, therefore, we ask the children to represent either their direct observations or their theories.

For example, on our walk on Tuesday, February 11, Austin, Cedric, Deirdre, Rory, and myself (Blanche), went to the Troll Bridge, which is the small bridge right before you get to Lover’s Lane.