DOCUMENT RESUME

ED 391 492 IR 017 645

AUTHOR Bailey, Margaret; And OthersTITLE The Impact of Integrating Visuals in an Elementary

Creative Writing Process.PUB DATE [95]

NOTE Ilp.; In: Eyes on the Future: Converging Images,Ideas, and Instruction. Selected Readings from theAnnual Conference of the International VisualLiteracy Association (27th, Chicago, IL, October18-22, 1995); see IR 017 629.

PUB TYPE Reports Research/Technical (143)Speeches/Conference Papers (150)

EDRS PRICE MFOI/PC01 Plus Postage.DESCRIPTORS Cognitive Style; Computer Graphics; *Creative

Writing; Grade 2; *Instructional Effectiveness;Integrated Activities; *Motivation; PrimaryEducation; Self Esteem; Visual Aids; *Visual Stimuli;*Writing Instruction; *Writing Processes; WritingWorkshops

IDENTIFIERS *Clip Art; Iconic Representation; Visual Imagery

ABSTRACTMost children's books are filled with pictures, yet

when schools design curricula to teach writing, they often ignore therole of visual images in the writing process. Historically, methodsfor teaching writing have focused on text. Even relatively recenttechniques like brainstorming and story webbing still focus on verbalinformation. In some cases, however, visuals have been used as astory stimulus to generate writing ideas or evoke emotionalexpression. This paper describes a study which sought to measure theeffects of the introduction of computer clip art and graphicalpresentation software on the writing process. In particular,researchers wondered if the use of these visuals would affect lengthand quality of compositions, student motivation and esteem, studentability to organize thoughts into paragraphs, and student reaction tosharing compositions. The study examined 25 second-graders engaged ina daily writer's workshop that included brainstorming, story webbing,drafting, editing, publishing, and presenting. Data was collected viaobservation, a final group debriefing, interviews with both teachersand students, and analysis of the final creative papers themselves.Children used clip art as icons as aids for mapping sequences andchronologies, and as trial-and-error aids in story planning. Manystudents had difficulty applying themselves to the writing processonce they learned tht a computer would assist them at the editingstage, but the computer's presence also lent fun to preparing thefinal draft, which can become mundane or frustrating. Graphicalpresentation software also took some of the anxiety out of sharingpapers with the whole class; attention was drawn away from the childto the onscreen graphics. There was ample evidence to support theconclusion that these computer applications enhanced length andquality of compositions; increased student self-esteem; enhanced,helped students organize their thoughts via storyboarding; and gotgood overall reaction from the students. (BEW)

The Impact Of Integrating Visuals In AnElementary Creative Writing Process

U.S DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATIONOtticeviEtuicat.ndiFteseaichandimwovmom

EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATIONCENTER (ERIC)

O This document nas been reproduced asreceived from the person or organizationoriginating it

O Minor changes have been made toimprove reproduction quality.

Points of view or opinions stated irt thisdocument do not necessarily representofficial OERI position or policy

by Margaret Bailey,Mary O'Grady-Jones,

Lynda McGown

16. . . sad What is the use of a book," thoughtAlice, *without pictures. .

Lewis Carroll Alice's Advennires InWonderland

BackgroundConsistent with Alice's lament,

most children's books are filled withpicturen. In fact story illustrations take upmore space in children's books thanwords. When reading to children,teachers often spend time with studentsexploring and interpreting storyillustrations. Yet when schools designcurricula to teach writing they oftenignore the role of visual images in thewriting process.

Historically methods for teachingwriting have focused on text (verbalinformation) to stimulate story ideas andprogress. Brainstorming and storywebbing, for example, are pre-writingactivities that traditionally call on verbalskills to organize a student's thoughts andideas. Traditional models for teachingwriting relied on a teacher's presentationof verbal information, student processingor writing, and leacher evaluation ofresults.

In 1983, Graves introduced alandmark study and writing curriculum inWriting: Teachers and Children at Work(1983). In his work, Graves proposedthat teachers employ a process approach

"PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE THISMATERIAL HAS BEEN GRANTED BY

Alice D. Walker

TO THE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCESINFORMATION CENTER (ERIC)"

when teaching writing. His modelsuppcts the "natural" development ofwriting and expression that occurs inchildren. Graves presented the key stepsin the writing process to includebrainstorming webbing drafting, editing,and publishing Graves also stronglysupported student-student conferencingand teacher-student conferencing asessential events in the writing process.Since its introduction, many elementarywriting teachers have adopted Graves'model.

Visuals in the Writing ProcessThere is little documented in the

literature on the benefits or applicationsof visuals in the writing process.Research that does exist supports studentillustration once the writing is completed.For example, the publishing stage ofwriters workshop (Graves, 1983) andprograms such as "Young Authors"promote the use of visual images toenhance the story, yet they do not placeany emphasis on the use of visuals in theprocess of writing.

In some cases, visuals have beenused as a story stimulus. (See forexample, Darlington, 1992). In suchcases, a pre-selected image is presented tostudents as a means to generate writingideas, evoke emotional expression, orreinforce descriptive writing techniques.

135 rl

Surprisingly, the integration ofwriting and visuals is most often found inthe science curriculum, where thecombined use of sketching and note-taking is promoted as an observation tool(Srulowitz, 1992).

Technology and WritingComputers and other media have

been used to support the writing process.In most cases, these tools have focused ontext and editing support, such as wordprocessors and outliners. Bailey (1995) ,however, makes a case for using visuallyrich presentation software (such asPersuasion, Compel or Power Point) as acreative tool in the elementary classroom.Creative writing is one of many suggestedapplications for presentation software inthe elementary classroom.

Research QuestionsThis study was designed to

measure the effects of the introduction ofvisual images, specifically computer clipart and graphic presentation software,throughout the writing process. Data wascollected in two main areas: studentmotivation and reactions to the process,and quality/quantity of work produced.

1. Will the use of visuals (clip art) in thestory writing process (webbing,drafting and editing) have an effect onthe length and quality of studentcompositions?Will the use of visuals in the storywriting process have an effect onstudent motivation or esteem?Will storyboarding impact thestudent's ability to organize thoughtsinto paragraphs?

136

4. How will students react to the use ofcomputer presentation software toassemble and share compositions?

MethodTwenty-five second graders were

the subject group for this study. Theclass was composed of 11 girls and 14boys. The students were predominantlymiddle class Caucasian with one Korean.There was also one special needs studentwho was mainstreamed into the class. Allof the students participated in the study.

The students had been working onwriting skills since the beginning of theschool year during a daily morningsession called "writing workshop". Sincethis project began in April, late in theschool year, an established set of writingrules and process techniques, based onGraves' (1983) process writing, hadalready been introduced and had beenpracticed through the development ofapproximately four prior themes.

Introducing the ProjectThe project began with a brief

introduction to the students. During thistime, the main features of this workshopwere established. The students were toldthey would be writing a theme thatincluded both words and pictures. Thewriting process would use the same stepsas prior workshops. Critical new termsincluding "clipart" and "storyboard" weredefined. In addition, students wereintroduced to the technology that wouldbe used for the project, the pieces ofhardware needed (computer, overheadprojector and projection panel) and aspecial program, Microsoft Power Point3.0, which would allow them to enterwords and clipart together into thecomputer. To conclude the introduction,

students viewed an example themedeveloped in Power Point by one of theresearchers. The theme was shared usinga Macintosh LC II computer. Students'questions during the introduction centeredon understanding the technology and thenew tools such as, "How do clipart(images) get into the computer?" and"Can we draw pictures on thestoryboards?" The following steps weretaken by the students over a four weekperiod.

(1) Brainstorming. Copies of pre-selected computer clipart images(approximately 89 black and whiteimages on four pages) were passed out toeach student. Students worked with awriting partner to brainstorm theme ideas.

(2) Webbing. Once each studenthad decided on a theme, he or she beganto draft a story web. Students wrotewords or phrases, and placed imageswhich explained and elaborated on theirideas on the web. Most students cut outand pasted their clip art choices directlyto the story webs.

(3) Drafting. Students usedstoryboards as a tool to support thewriting of their first drafts. Storyboardsprovided a place for both pictures andwords. (See Figure 1.)

(4) Editing. Editing was done inpeer groups, independently with theclassroom teacher, and in daily sharingsessions. In the sharing sessions, studentsvolunteered to read drafts while otherstudents asked questions and gavefeedback.

(5) Publishing. Once students hadcompleted their editing and had approvalfrom the teacher to proceed, studentsmoved to the computer to publish theirtheme. Students worked with one of theresearchers at a Macintosh LC II

Figure 1STORYBOARD TEMPLATE

CREATED WITH POWERPOINT 3.0

computer loaded with Power Point, theclipart, and the pre-created template tomatch the students' storyboards. Studentsdirected the selection of background,placement and sizing of clipart, and thetyping in of text. At the end of this stage.students were provided with a colorprintout of their theme.

(6) Presenting. All students hadthe opportunity to share their theme withclassmates using the computer and PCprojection equipment. During thispresentation, each student read his or hertheme from the printout while thecomputer generated graphics wereprojected on a cardboard "screen-suspended from the ceiling.

131

Data CollectionData was collected over a four

week period allowing the observers to bepresent for all of the stages in the writingprocess. Sources of information includedobservation notes, informal interviewswith students, a final group debrief,teacher interviews, and document

analysis-assessment of final writing bythe teacher and researchers.

FindingsObservations of student reactions

and behaviors during this writingworkshop can be classified as beingrelated to three key areas: (1) reactions tothe integration of visuals into the process,to include strategies and approachesemployed during the process and theresulting quality, and length of writingreflected in the themes generated from theprocess; (2) reactions to thelechnology,to include perceptions of the computer asa novelty in a pre-existing process and asa visually rich tool for accomplishing afamiliar task; and (3) evidence ofstudents' motivation and esteem duringand as a result of the process.

Four Strategies for Visual IntegrationIt was apparent from very early in

the observation that a handful of distinctstyles were prevailing as strategies forintegrating visuals into the writingprocess. This section demonstrates thefour strategies we feel were consistentlyrepresented in this subject group based onnotes taken during field observations andanalysis of process documents includingthe writing webs, storyboards and finalthemes: (1) Visual Relationship, (2)Visual Organization, (3) VisualSequencing, and (4) Trial and Error orVisual Testing. Pseudonyms are used torefer to the students.

Visual RelationshipThe first example illustrates a

Visual Relationship strategy, anddescribes Kimberly, a student withalready well developed writing skills asdemonstrated in earlier writing

assignments. Kimberly's strategy forintegrating visuals centered on lookingacross the set of clipart to identifyrelationships among the images. Once aconceptual relationship was identified, thestudent elaborated on the central idea, andthe theme was organized to explain thisrelationship.

138

Erample I - Visual Relationship. Kimberlyteamed up with Susan to look over theclipart images. They talked and startedpicking out images that were "funny", "cute"and "cool". It only took 5-7 minutes beforeKimberly was ready to start a story web.She was able to recognize that some of theimages were "realistic" and some were"cartoons." "The funny pictures made methink about being a cartoonist and makmgpeople laugh," she said. In the center of herweb she wrote, "Being a cartoonist" anddeveloped six branches. She pasted nineimages cut from the clipart. The imageswere grouped in clusters. One clusterincluded a lion and a duck. Anotherincluded two cartoon dog images. A cat andfish were grouped together, as were acomical squirrel and bird. A solo image of acartoon baby was pasted alone. Kimberlyadded sentences to her web to explain hergroupings. The sentences centered on likingto draw "dogs" and "animals." One branchof the web included a rather poetic line thatread, "I like to watch squirrels and birdsdance among the trees." Even though theline didn't make it apparent, Kimberly saidshe was trying to explain how she got herideas for drawing.

Kimberly spent no more than oneclass session on her web, and was one of thefirst to move, to storyboarding. Instead ofdeveloping each web branch into a singlestoryboard page, Kimberly grouped her ideasto fit three storyboards to support herexplanations. She pasted the images on first,adding a new tenth image of a cartoon clock,and began adding the words to her roughdraft. She restricted herself to the number oflines available on the storyboard, feeling"finished" when she reached the end of thepage. She worked very quickly, and madevery few spelling or punctuation errors. She

stuck to simple words and simple sentencestructure.

The words and images included onKimberly's final presentation bore strikingsimilarity and consistency with her web.Very little changed in the final editing, or inpublishing the theme with the computer. Noadditional brainstorms, or last minutechanges were made during the computertime. Kimberly's final theme reflected tenimages and nine sentences (a total of 74words.)

Visual OrganizationThe second example demonstrates

a Visual Organization approach to thewriting. In this example, Brian used thevisuals as icons to represent the structureand development of his theme. Thisapproach involves using a single clipartimage to "represent" a whole subset ofideas on the web and/or storyboard.Brian was an extreme example of visualorganization, relying completely on thevisuals to represent his theme'sconceptual outline. In fact, he includedno words on his web at all.

ample 2 - Visual Organization. Brian andKevin sat down with the clipart and startednaming the pictures. While Kevin centeredon the shark, Brian couldn't decide on justone animal as his favorite. He began cuttingout the ones he liked: the shark, a horse anda tiger. He pasted them on a web, each withits own branch. In the center of the web, hepasted the image of a globe. He put nowords on the web at all. His teacher askedhim to explain his theme. He indicated thathe was going to write about animals aroundthe world, and the three animals on the webwere the ones he would talk about. Hewould tell where they live and what they eat.

Brian went straight to developing hisstoryboards to rough out his theme. He tookfive storyboard pages and numbered them 1-5, pasting the globe on first, the shark onsecond, and so on. He began writing.looking up some information in thcencyclopedia, and he developed 1-3

139

sentences for each storyboard. He didn'tfeel restricted by the lines on thestoryboards, naturally continuing on thc backof the page as he wanted to add morcinformation on each animal. Brian tookrisks with his vocabulary, including"information," "enemies," and "dangerous-to his draft.

Brian fmalized his theme by adding asentence to his introduction about where hefound the information to his theme, and ashort sentence as a conclusion. His finaltheme included only four images, but used14 sentences (a total of 120 words) toelaborate and explain them.

Visual SequencingThe third example demonstrates a

Visual Sequencing approach to thewriting. In this example, the cliparttriggered a visual memory in Jeremywhich compelled him to retell a storybased on the "re-playing" of a visualsequence in Jeremy's mind. In Jeremy'scase, it was a television show that formedthe basis of his theme. Since Jeremy wasrelying on his visual memory to structurethe theme, the clipart was usedextensively as a planning tool to map hismemory on the story web, but was thrownout during storyboarding, presumablybecause the clipart images couid notmatch the richer i nages in the child'smind.

Example 3 - I'isual Sequencing. Jeremy wasa "loner" during the project, working verydiligently the entire four weeks. Whcn hefirst received the clipart and started talkingwith Sam, he centered right away on picturesof a sports car and police car. "These arccool." He took his paper and wrote "Viper-in the center. He started cutting out severalimages, one at a timc. With each, he wouldpaste the image, then write a single word.With a skyscape. he wrote "city.- With adoctor, he wrote "crash." With a skeleton.hc wrote "bad guy.- He then added the"police car- and wrotc "transform- by thesports car. In all, his web reflected eight

images and nine words. He explained to histeacher that the images reminded him of atelevision show he had seen and he wasgoing to write a story based on the show.

Once Jeremy had his story idea andhis web completed. he abandoned the clipartimages and began retelling the story on thestoryboards. He would start each page withan illustration at the top, and then would filleach page with appropriate words anddialogue. It was as if he treated the boxprovided for pasting the images as a TV ormovie screen. He took risks with hissentence structure, including dialogue andcompound sentences. He took risks withvocabulary, too, including words such as"Chicago". "memory". "special","bazooka", "alley" and "transform". Heseemed anxious to finish his story. But hedidn't feel like he could finish until thewhole story was told as he remembered it.Finally, after 22 storyboard pages, histeacher convinced him to write a storyending.

Jeremy was one of the last to publishhis story on the computer. It was a bitfrustrating at first trying to find clipartimages to match Jeremy's illustrations. Fiveof the original clipart images were used fromJeremy's web in the final pr,. centation.Many were used over and over.

Jeremy's final theme included 15

different images. 63 sentences with a totalof 558 words.

Visual Testing--Trial and ErrorThe fourth example demonstrates

that not all students experienced a clearc..loal-directed strategy with the visuals.Some students struggled with visualintegration and demonstrated what wecall Visual Testing or Trial and Error indeveloping their themes. Missy is a goodexample of Visual Testing. In thisapproach, there were many starts andstops with selecting and integratingvisuals into the theme. For somestudents, it can be compared to trying onshoes. The student centers on one orseveral images to start, develops the

theme to a certain point, discovers newidea strands either stimulated by a

thought or a new image, throws outvisuals that no longer reflect the story'sdirection, and brings in new, moreappropriate ones, all in an evolutionarytrial and error process. This is in greatcontrast to the goal-directed behavior ofthe Visual Organizer or VisualSequencer.

140

Evample 4 - risual Testing. When Missyreceived her clipart, she seemedoverwhelmed by how many there were. Shelistened to her partner and the other kidsaround her to fmd out what they were doing.While other kids were deciding quickly.Missy seemed to have some trouble comingup with an idea. There were so manypictures that she liked. She asked theteacher, "Does this story have to be real?"(Most of their themes so far wcreinformation themes about themselves,Thanksgiving, interests and so forth.) "No.You can tell us a story or give usinformation about something If you tell astory, though, remember all stories have aproblem to be solved, a beginning, a middleand an end."

Missy wanted to tell a story andstarted her web by writing "The DancingBear" in the middle. She added a few wordsto the web including "room", "dances"."loved", "toys" and "best friends". Eventhough her story didn't have a problem yet,she started her rough draft/storyboard. Shestarted by writing the limerick of FuzzyWuzzy, but threw this out and started over.It was the third class period that Missy reallystarted developing her story. She began withan image of a house on storyboard one. andstarted writing. She didn't look back to herweb at all. She used simple sentencestructure, arid made many spelling errors.But she kept going. On the second page, shepasted an image of a bear, and in the storynamed him "Fuzzy." She introduced sixmore images on page three, adding six morecharacters to her story. The action of thestory was simple and occurred on pages 4through 6. Even though her original web

indicated there would be a dancing bear, thiselement was never introduced in herstoryboard. It took Missy several classperiods to complete her story. She mademany changes, crossed out words, and addednew sentences. She added new images, attimes hand drawing when the "right" clipartwas not available.

She worked most of one class period(about 4 0 minutes) to organize the story,select images for two storyboards that wereleft blank, and re-work the sentences to getthe story into the computer with the help ofone of the researchers.

Missy's fmal presentation used 10

images accompanied by 15 sentences with atotal of 117 words.

These examples show at least fourvery distinct strategies used by thestudents in order to integrate visuals andtext into a single cohesive theme. Asevidenced by their final themes, this taskwas completed successfully, albeitperhaps easier for some. In all but twocases, when compared with writingsamples earlier in the year, themesreflected risks used in the form ofadvanced vocabulary words and sentencestructure, fewer misspellings, and longerlength. Figure 2 compares the documentanalysis figures for the four studentsdescribed in this paper.

Figure 2EARLY WRITING VS. FINAL THEMES

St Early Writing Final Themes: Visuals + Text

Kim

Words Sent. Misspell Words Sent. Misspell # Slides #

Clipart

96 13 0 74 9 0 3 10

Brian 53 6 6 120 14 0 5 4

Jeudentremy 90 14 2 558 63 1 23 15

Missy 117 15 3 143 25 0 7 10

Impact of Computer TechnologyThe technology, specifically the

Macintosh computer with PowerPointsoftware used during the publishing stageof writing and the computer andprojection equipment used for storysharing, did have some affect on thestudents' strategies and behaviors duringthe project.

While a computer in theclassroom was not a novelty to this group(the students have access to an Apple IIgsfor practice and enrichment), theintroduction of a color computer withvisual graphic software was a novelty.Further, it was a new experience for thisgroup to use computers during the writingprocess.

141

Technology's Impact on ProcessSince we brought in the computer

on a wheeled cart at the beginning of eachwriting workshop, it was hard forstudents not to "notice" it One or twostudents, like Jeremy, were able to shutout the anticipation of using the computerfor final draft and remain very focusedHowever, a large number of the students.such as Kimberly, were obviouslyanxious to look, feel and experience thecomputer. We often observed studentstaking a break from their work to watchthe interaction between researcher andstudent at the computer or to catch aglimpse at the colorful graphics other

,rn -

students were putting into theirpresentations.

For Kimberly, this eagerness wasmanifested in her writing by doing things"just well enough" so that she could beapproved to advance quickly through theearly writing steps and be the first to enterher final draft. For Kimberly, the resultsof this eagerness were a shorter paperthan earlier writing (74 words versus 96in an earlier sample) and less riskyvocabulary use and sentence structure.

Conversely, for most students, thecomputer's presence kept anticipation andeneray high during steps in the writingprocess that typically become slow andmundane: editing and final draft. It is

durintz this stage that students can becomefrustrated with their level of developmentwith vocabulary, spelling andhandwriting. In this project, while therewas some of this same frustration duringdrafting and editing, we also observedstudents getting down to task andpersistence so they would be chosen nextto work at the computer.

Presenting with TechnologyDuring presentation days, 4-6

students took turns reading their themesto classmates while the graphics wereprojected by the computer. During these"presentations" the students in theaudience consistently maintained theirfocus on the projected computer graphicsand rarely looked at the student reading.At the end of the presentations, studentsstill working in editing were observedwith a renewed interest in finishing theirown themes.

In the final debrief, some studentsnoted that they were anxious (and oftenexcited) in anticipating sharing theirthemes to the class, but when the

audience looked at the graphics instead ofthem, it made it much easier to present.

The technology's impact is

apparent in students' final reaction to thewriting workshop as expressed in thefinal debrief. Figure 3 reflects students'blind votes for their favorite step in thisproject, and it clearly shows a preferencefor the two steps that introducedtechnology.

Figure 3STUDENTS' FAVORITE STEP OF

THE WRITING PROJECT

Step # Votes (BlindVoting)

Brainstorming 0

Webbing 0

Storyboarding 1

-Editing 0

Final (Computer) 16

Presenting 7

142

Student Motivation and EsteemMost affects to student motivation

and eAeem were observed during three ofthe writing steps: brainstorming,publishing, and presenting.

Brainstorming. During brain-storming, giddiness and anticipation thatfilled the room. Students were overheardsharing common sentiments about howthe project was "fun" or "cool." On thefirst day observation, through lively, busyinteraction, about half of the studentsdetermined a theme topic within 5-7minutes; only six were still looking for atopic after 11 minutes; four after 15

minutes; and all had selected a topicwithin 18 minutes from receiving thecl ipart.

Publishing. As noted earlier, thetime students spent sitting at the computer

to develop the final draft was a source ofmotivation for many students. Studentswere observed laughing, interacting, andsmiling during the time with theresearcher at the computer. A significantevent for many students occurred whenthey received the color printout of theirthemes at the end of this time. Anexample of one student's enthusiasmduring this time was Brian (the visualorganizer). Brian's time at the computerwas interrupted by the bell for lunch. Wehad two more slides yet to enter. Brianrequested that he be allowed to stayduring lunch, or come back during recess,so that he could finish his theme andreceive his printout.

Some students expressed feelingnervous or confused during the timeleading up to sitting down with thecomputer. One student explained, "I wasnervous. It was different having to workwith someone else to do the final draft."By and large, however, comments werepositive, "It was exciting." or "I thoughtit was funny watching (the researchers)move the pictures around."

At the end of this debrief, 17

students voted that they love to write; 6that they liked it. None indicated thatwriting was OK or that they disliked it.

DiscussionThis research represents an initial

step in answering four questions as theyrelate to visual integration into anelementary creative writing process.

Will visuals in the story writing processhave an effect on length and quality?

There is evidence that theintegratiou of visuals into the process hadpositive affects on the length and qualityof student compositions. The

introduction of visuals duringbrainstorming facilitated students' abilityto quickly choose a theme and begin theprocess of writing. Using visuals duringwebbing and rough draft provided a

means for students to structure ideas,either through visual organization,sequencing, relationship or trial and error.

The majority of students' finalthemes reflected longer length, andgreater risks taken with vocabulary,dialogue, and sentence structure.

Will visuals effect motivation oresteem?

Although students expressed someinitial anxiety over their interaction withthe technology, there seemed to be nolasting effects from this fear.

Motivation effects were observedduring brainstorming, publishina andpresenting. In addition, the anticipationto publish on the computer spurred manystudents to complete themes and remainon task. The pride students experiencedwith the color, visual printouts of theirthemes, and the ability to share both textand visuals with classmates, was deep andexpressed openly. In their own words,students found this writing workshop"fun".

143

Will storyboarding impact studentability to organize?

The storyboards were a veryuseful tool for students in integrating textand visuals into student compositionsWhile the story web was observed as theprimary tool supporting themeorganization, the storyboard was useful inmaintaining and elaborating on thatorganization through rough draft andediting.

Particularly for the VisualOrganizer and the Visual Sequencer, the

tool was excellent support for thegrouping of ideas, a first step in helpingstudents understand paragraphing. Evenif classrooms are not equipped withcomputers or graphic software,introducing visuals and storyboards intoWe writing process as a tool for groupingideas and paragraphing can be highlyeffective.

Student reaction to computers as avisual-text integration tool?

This research is indication thatpresentation software can be used as aeducational tool to support visual and textintegration with young children, and isnot an exclusive software genre forsupporting presentations in adults.

Computers can be seen as creativetools for children...not just a way to edittext or to conduct drill and practice.Similar to the benefits cf Logo in theearly 1980s for allowing children to directand control the results on the computerscreen, so can graphics programs andpresentation software be seen as an

avenue for student creativity and esteem.

Questions for further research andanalysis....

While this research represents astep toward the study of integratingvisuals and visual technologies into theelementary creative writing process,additional questions and further researchis required. Specifically, do the fourstrategies described here for visual-textintegration emerge consistently, or arethere additional integration strategies thatwe did not observe?

Would the introduction of visuals/technologies have similar impact onstudents of different ages and stages ofwriting development than our test group?

ConclusionThe writing workshop described

in this study was a positive curriculumapproach to integrating verbal and visualinformation into young student'sdevelopment of writing skills. It was aproject that provided rich observation,addressed specific questions regardingvisuals and writing, and identifiedadditional research needs. Mostimportantly, though, it provided thestudents involved with a lasting,professional-looking theme with colorillustrations. For them it became morethan a writing assignment, it became asource of creative pride, providing forthem, in their words, "a keeper."

144

References

Bailey, M. (1995, Unpublishedmanuscript). Presentation Softwarein the Classroom. Presented to the1995 Illinois AECT Conference,Chicago.

Carroll, L. (1929) Alice's Adventures inWonderland Illus. by Willy Pogany.NY: E.P. Dutton and Co.

Darlington, S.R. (1992). "Visual Literacyas the Basis for Writing Experiences."In J. Clark-Baca, D. Beauchamp, andR. Braden, Eds. VisualCommunications. pp. 183-192.

Graves, D.H. (1983). Writing: Teachersand Children at Work. Exeter, NH:Heinemann Educational Books.

Srulowitz, F. (1992). "Diary of a Tree."Science and C7iildren. 29(5). pp. 19-21.