Writing Practice for Children: Draw and Write

Motivate children to practice handwriting or to write clear sentences and paragraphs by adding drawing to your lessons. It isn't hard to teach basic writing skills — the challenge is to motivate children to practice carefully and regularly.

Drawing is an activity that children welcome.
Drawing a picture inspires creativity and is a great writing prompt.
Drawing is a basic form of communication -- it is a fundamental part of language arts.

Here are some methods that teachers and parents use to adapt the Draw Write Now lessons to best fit their needs:

Speech Development -- Talk About the Drawing

Where is the bird flying? What is it doing? Is it a hot day or a cold day? In a classroom situation, this may be a useful tool to begin a conversation with a quiet child. With the talkative child, it can help focus the child's verbal skills. To help a young child see the relationship between writing and speaking, sit beside them and write their story as they tell it to you. Read the story back to the child as you point to each word.

Letter Formation -- Write the Letter

Show the children how to correctly form and pronounce the letter. See Handwriting Styles

Word Formation -- Write the Word

Show the children how to correctly form and pronounce each letter in a word. Help them correctly space the letters.

Handwriting Practice -- Write Short Sentences

Demonstrate how to write a short sentence, such as "Birds fly to nests.", and have the children copy it. Teach the children that the first letter of the first word in a sentence is a capital letter, that a period is at the end of the sentence, and that there are spaces between words. As they become more comfortable with writing, add more sentences.
Marie Hablitzel originally used her lessons for copy-work, so the Draw Write Now lessons have four short sentences for easy copying. We like to have children practice handwriting regularly up until the age of twelve, so these sentence can adjust to the age level but the lesson should remain short with fairly simple sentences.

Self-Editing -- For the Child Who Loves to Write

One mother told us that her daughter loved to write page after page, which was great, but she needed to improve spelling and paragraph structure. The mother gave her daughter a daily homeschool assignment to write about a picture she had drawn. After writing the story and reading it with her mother, they selected several sentences that highlighted the story. They corrected any spelling or grammar errors in those sentences, then the child copied the sentences onto another paper using her best handwriting. She learned to self-edit, while improving her writing legibility and maintaining her love of writing.

Writing Prompt -- For the Child Who is Reluctant

Drawing instruction is an excellent pre-writing activity that engages the children and augments their work. Have the child copy the sentences with you. Work for success, but push them a bit. If you know they can write one sentence, have them write one sentence plus one more short sentence. Lesson to lesson, increase the amount of writing. If they balk, use the coloring time as an incentive — remind them that you'll bring out the crayons (or color pencils, watercolors, etc.) after the sentences are finished.

Composition -- Write a Story About Your Drawing

The background drawings that the children add can be very interesting, and drawings are good prompts for writing. Let the children quickly get their ideas on paper — this is not a time to stress careful handwriting.

Practice Grammar

Provide the children with another sheet of paper and ask them to write all the nouns in their drawing. Another time, have them write all the verbs or all the adjectives.

Write a Paragraph or Report

Encourage independent research and study. Older children who do the drawing lessons with younger siblings can write a paragraph or more about the subject they have just drawn. Help the children learn how to gather information from sources like encyclopedias, the Internet or library.

"Marie Hablitzel added drawing instruction to her curriculum when she saw how drawing with her students engaged them and enhanced their academic skills. When my two children were young, I used the lessons much like Marie had used them to introduce writing skills and build writing fluency. The drawing lessons were also great prompts for story telling and creative writing. I liked having the flexibility to adjust the writing assignments to each child's needs."
— Kim Stitzer, coauthor of Draw Write Now

	*Writing Practice for Children: Draw and Write* Motivate children to practice handwriting or to write clear sentences and paragraphs by adding drawing to your lessons. It isn't hard to teach basic writing skills — the challenge is to motivate children to practice carefully and regularly. Drawing is an activity that children welcome. Drawing a picture inspires creativity and is a great writing prompt. Drawing is a basic form of communication -- it is a fundamental part of language arts. Here are some methods that teachers and parents use to adapt the Draw Write Now lessons to best fit their needs: Speech Development -- Talk About the Drawing Where is the bird flying? What is it doing? Is it a hot day or a cold day? In a classroom situation, this may be a useful tool to begin a conversation with a quiet child. With the talkative child, it can help focus the child's verbal skills. To help a young child see the relationship between writing and speaking, sit beside them and write their story as they tell it to you. Read the story back to the child as you point to each word. Letter Formation -- Write the Letter Show the children how to correctly form and pronounce the letter. See Handwriting Styles Word Formation -- Write the Word Show the children how to correctly form and pronounce each letter in a word. Help them correctly space the letters. Handwriting Practice -- Write Short Sentences Demonstrate how to write a short sentence, such as "Birds fly to nests.", and have the children copy it. Teach the children that the first letter of the first word in a sentence is a capital letter, that a period is at the end of the sentence, and that there are spaces between words. As they become more comfortable with writing, add more sentences. Marie Hablitzel originally used her lessons for copy-work, so the Draw Write Now lessons have four short sentences for easy copying. We like to have children practice handwriting regularly up until the age of twelve, so these sentence can adjust to the age level but the lesson should remain short with fairly simple sentences. Self-Editing -- For the Child Who Loves to Write One mother told us that her daughter loved to write page after page, which was great, but she needed to improve spelling and paragraph structure. The mother gave her daughter a daily homeschool assignment to write about a picture she had drawn. After writing the story and reading it with her mother, they selected several sentences that highlighted the story. They corrected any spelling or grammar errors in those sentences, then the child copied the sentences onto another paper using her best handwriting. She learned to self-edit, while improving her writing legibility and maintaining her love of writing. Writing Prompt -- For the Child Who is Reluctant Drawing instruction is an excellent pre-writing activity that engages the children and augments their work. Have the child copy the sentences with you. Work for success, but push them a bit. If you know they can write one sentence, have them write one sentence plus one more short sentence. Lesson to lesson, increase the amount of writing. If they balk, use the coloring time as an incentive — remind them that you'll bring out the crayons (or color pencils, watercolors, etc.) after the sentences are finished. Composition -- Write a Story About Your Drawing The background drawings that the children add can be very interesting, and drawings are good prompts for writing. Let the children quickly get their ideas on paper — this is not a time to stress careful handwriting. Practice Grammar Provide the children with another sheet of paper and ask them to write all the nouns in their drawing. Another time, have them write all the verbs or all the adjectives. Write a Paragraph or Report Encourage independent research and study. Older children who do the drawing lessons with younger siblings can write a paragraph or more about the subject they have just drawn. Help the children learn how to gather information from sources like encyclopedias, the Internet or library. "Marie Hablitzel added drawing instruction to her curriculum when she saw how drawing with her students engaged them and enhanced their academic skills. When my two children were young, I used the lessons much like Marie had used them to introduce writing skills and build writing fluency. The drawing lessons were also great prompts for story telling and creative writing. I liked having the flexibility to adjust the writing assignments to each child's needs." — Kim Stitzer, coauthor of Draw Write Now
See our selection of writing papers and portfolios		". . . (the children) take great care in their writing, even though they have to transpose the writing into the D'Nealian format. In their old handwriting sessions, the writing would start neat and quickly deteriorate by the end of the page, but using this program, the writing is beautiful from beginning to end. It is almost as if they want their writing to look nice because they are so proud of their drawings." --Book Lover, review of Draw Write Now Jacob, age 7 lesson from Draw Write Now
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