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Student Experiences with Writing: Taking the Temperature of the Classroom

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Title: Student Experiences with Writing: Taking the Temperature of the Classroom
Language: English
Authors: Zumbrunn, Sharon, Ekholm, Eric, Stringer, J. K., McKnight, Kimberly, DeBusk-Lane, Morgan
Source: Reading Teacher. May-Jun 2017 70(6):667-677.
Availability: Wiley-Blackwell. 350 Main Street, Malden, MA 02148. Tel: 800-835-6770; Tel: 781-388-8598; Fax: 781-388-8232; e-mail: cs-journals@wiley.com; Web site: http://www.wiley.com/WileyCDA
Peer Reviewed: Y
Page Count: 11
Publication Date: 2017
Document Type: Journal Articles
Reports - Research
Education Level: Grade 5
Intermediate Grades
Middle Schools
Elementary Education
Descriptors: Writing (Composition), Grade 5, Elementary School Students, Freehand Drawing, Student Attitudes, Responses, Teaching Methods, Literacy Education, Qualitative Research
DOI: 10.1002/trtr.1574
ISSN: 0034-0561
Abstract: This article offers insights into students' perceptions of writing through the use of drawings and written responses. In a descriptive qualitative study of fifth graders across two diverse elementary schools, students were prompted to draw a picture about a recent experience with writing and how that experience made them feel. Students were then asked to write a description of their drawings. We studied features in the drawings and written responses and constructed four thematic categories. Findings highlight the range of both positive and negative experiences with writing as well as a realistic tool for literacy teachers to use to take the temperature of the classroom.
Abstractor: As Provided
Entry Date: 2017
Accession Number: EJ1139257
Database: ERIC
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  Value: <anid>AN0122848520;ret01may.17;2017May06.10:00;v2.2.500</anid> <title id="AN0122848520-1">Student Experiences With Writing: Taking the Temperature of the Classroom </title> <p>FEATURE ARTICLE</p> <p>Students' literacy experiences and beliefs can have profound effects on their motivation, engagement, and learning. The authors explore tools that teachers can use to better understand students' writing experiences and beliefs.</p> <p>When a child looks or feels ill, one of the first things parents often do is take the child's temperature. The number on the thermometer helps parents determine their next steps in caring for their child. The temperature of a class is important for teachers of writing to consider as well (Zumbrunn, 2016). How do students feel about writing? How do they perceive themselves as writers? With careful eyes and ears and thoughtful reflection, teachers are able to gauge the ways that their students experience writing and foster positive writing experiences in the classroom.</p> <p>In short, these perceptions matter. The beliefs students have about themselves as writers matter, as do their beliefs about the writing process. Decades of research show that students' self-beliefs can have a powerful effect on how they approach writing tasks, how they persist through difficulties in such tasks, and, ultimately, how likely they are to be proficient at writing (Bruning, Dempsey, Kauffman, McKim, & Zumbrunn, 2013; Pajares, 1996).</p> <p>Students' perceptions of the writing experience can also affect how they see themselves as writers and how they approach writing. For example, writing attitudes, or how writing makes the author feel (Graham, Berninger, & Fan, 2007), have the potential to affect students' writing motivation and their perceptions of the writing environment (Zumbrunn, Bruning, Kauffman, & Hayes, 2010).</p> <p>Process writing advocates have long emphasized the importance of a supportive classroom writing environment (Atwell, 1998; Graves, 1994), and research has suggested that such environments set the stage for students to have positive writing experiences (Bruning & Horn, 2000). In Writing With Power, Elbow (1998) summarized this principle nicely: "When an audience is safe you put out words more easily, when it is dangerous you find it harder" (p. 186). Creating and maintaining a safe, supportive writing environment requires teachers to continually reassess not only their instructional practices but also students' reactions to and interactions with these practices. If teachers' perceptions of students' writing experiences are inaccurate, then they are less likely to adequately respond to students' writing needs. A thorough understanding of students' writing experiences is necessary as a first step in creating classrooms where students feel safe and supported when writing.</p> <p>As a team of researchers who study student writing motivation and success, we often ask students to tell us about their perceptions and experiences through surveys and open-ended writing prompts. Although these methods can provide valuable information about students' beliefs about writing, there are clear limitations to their practical utility for both researchers and teachers. For instance, surveys may not adequately convey the complexity of students' emotions. Additionally, because students with negative writing attitudes tend to write shorter responses than their peers with positive writing attitudes (Graham, Berninger, & Abbott, 2012), using open-ended prompts to gauge students' writing beliefs could yield less information about those students most in need of help. Considering these limitations, we sought to find a realistic way for teachers to gauge the ways students experience writing.</p> <p>Class discussions, listening to students, and reflecting on what they say are foundational to understanding student needs. Indeed, many students are eager to share their ideas during the conversation. However, "for some children, showing is much easier than telling" (Graves, 1994, p. 23).</p> <p>As a "natural form of symbolic expression" (Weber & Mitchell, 1995, p. 35), drawings have been used as a developmentally appropriate means to document student perspectives on their experiences (Haney, Russell, & Bebell, 2004). Through their drawings, students can communicate internal representations of what they know and experience (Vygotsky, 1978).</p> <p>Certainly, students can also share their feelings through their writing. However, not all students feel comfortable or able to do so. For these students, drawing can provide another medium for sharing their ideas (Le Count, 2000).</p> <p>We believe that the combination of student drawings and written responses can offer a unique glimpse into how students think and feel about writing as well as provide a practical way for literacy teachers to take the temperature of their classrooms. We further suggest that teachers use drawings and responses to facilitate classroom discussions of writing. This article provides evidence of what elementary students shared when they were asked to draw a picture of a recent writing experience and write a description of their drawings.</p> <hd id="AN0122848520-2">Context and Procedure</hd> <p>The project took place in eight fifth-grade classrooms across two diverse elementary schools located in a suburban city in the Southeastern United States. Addit ional study details are described in Appendix A (available as supporting information for the online version of this article).</p> <p>Students were asked by their teachers to "draw a picture about a recent experience you had with writing and how that experience made you feel." After finishing their drawings, students then responded to the prompt, "What did you draw? Use the back of this paper to write a description for your drawing." Students were allowed to take as much time as they needed to finish their drawings and written responses.</p> <p>We examined the drawings and written responses of 114 students. To find and explore the major themes of these drawings and responses, we used inductive category development (Mayring, 2000). This consisted of each researcher noting recurring ideas during independent review and later comparing these patterns in the data with the team to develop initial feature codes. Separate feature codes were created for the drawing and written response data. Using procedures similar to those used by Zambo (2006), we created Tables 1 and 2, which provide positive and negative features and feature clues in student drawings and written responses. Using the final feature code list, each researcher individually analyzed all student drawings and responses. Any discrepancies were discussed as a group and reconciled to 100% agreement.</p> <p>We also calculated frequencies to assess which drawings and responses aligned with each feature code. All codes were then grouped into categories (Patton, 2002) that allowed us to see the bigger picture of students' experiences.</p> <hd id="AN0122848520-3">Findings and Reflections</hd> <p>After analyzing all student drawings and responses together, we constructed four thematic categories: Students Draw and Write About Their Emotions, Who Students Depict in Their Drawings, How Students Depict Engagement, and Students Draw and Write About Their Writing Motivation. Appendix B (available as supporting information for the online version of this article) details the combined number of student drawings and responses represented across the four categories. The following sections highlight findings for each of the categories.</p> <hd id="AN0122848520-4">Students Draw and Write About Their Emotions</hd> <p>Taking into consideration the prompt students were given, it is not surprising that the majority of students' responses referenced emotions. Depicted emotions varied a great deal, however, ranging from joy to apathy, anxiety, frustration, and unhappiness.</p> <p>Joy. More than half of all students' drawings and responses related to feelings of happiness. Many drawings depicted smiling students, and several descriptions expressed students' enthusiasm for writing. For example, Figure 1 shows one student's excitement for an upcoming writing assignment. In her description, she wrote, "I was very excited because I like writing." Similarly, another student wrote, "I have a smiley heart on my shirt with a paper on it. [That] should tell you I love writing. It makes me happy."</p> <p>Other students reported that they found writing calming. One student wrote, "When I write, it calms me down and makes me happy. It lets all the anger out. It takes me to my happy place. I zone out." Other students wrote that writing helps them feel "at peace."</p> <p>Apathy. Unfortunately, not all students shared this enthusiasm for writing. Some students' drawings and responses related to feelings of apathy for writing. Boredom and indifference were common ways students expressed apathy. For example, in one student's detailed drawing and response, he described writing as "boring" and a "crappy subject" (see Figure 2). Another student described his drawing by writing, "I'm not that excited about writing all the time, but it is not boring. It's just that writing is not my favorite subject."</p> <p>Anxiety. A few students expressed feelings of anxiety during the writing process. For example, Figure 3 shows a young girl shaking with nerves next to her writing engulfed in flames. She graphically described her experience of writing to her new teacher:</p> <p>I think it is stressing because it was the first impression. I could just feel my pencil shaking as I was writing. I always think what if it's not good enough or you don't like it. To me, it almost feels like you are surrounded by fire and can't get out until you finish writing the paper.</p> <p>Similarly, another student wrote, "I was nerves I didn't know what to do or how."</p> <p>Emotions can play a powerful role in student academic motivation, learning, and success (Pekrun & Stephens, 2012). Whereas boredom, anxiety, and anger are often negatively related with academic performance (e.g., Pekrun et al., 2004), positive emotions such as enjoyment, hope, and pride have been found to positively correlate with academic engagement (e.g., Linnenbrink, 2007) and writing achievement (e.g., Graham et al., 2007). Teachers who find that their students have negative emotions related to writing may consider implementing a process writing, or writers' workshop, approach to writing instruction that includes individualized and authentic opportunities for students to improve their writing skills, take personal responsibility for their writing, and collaborate with their peers. Such opportunities can create a positive learning environment and foster student motivation (Graves, 1983; Pritchard & Honeycutt, 2006).</p> <p>Frustration. Many students expressed feelings of frustration related to writing. Students often shared ways in which writing can seem challenging. "For me, writing can be vary stressful expecily if it has a deadline. Unless [someone] tells you exactly what to write you will probly at one point find yourself staring at a blank page confused, stressed out, and frustrated," responded one student. Several students seemed to find writing overwhelming. One student vividly described his experience:</p> <p>[Writing] feels like I'm being smushed by mountains on top of mountains of paper with the rough draft and the part where you check for errors. It's hard for me to focus when I have so many pieces of paper on my shoulders.</p> <p>Unhappiness. Many students illustrated the sadness and anger they sometimes feel toward writing. One candidly summed up his experiences: "I would rather stay at my desk all summer than do another paper….Quite frankly, the only reason I'm enjoying this is to express my outrage."</p> <p>Students often included question marks, thought/ speech bubbles, and sometimes, disturbingly, paper shredders (see Figure 4) when depicting their negative experiences with writing. Some particularly salient thought/speech bubbles included phrases such as "Kill me now," "No!" "This is hard," and "I'm scared."</p> <p>Some students described their writing experiences as painful, either physically, emotionally, or both. One student was blunt in her response: "Poetry is terrible. Get that into your brain. I'm good at everything but haikus. Ugh! I hate haikus. No more poetry!!!" "Blisters" and aching hands were present across some of the drawings and responses featuring unhappiness. For example, one student wrote, "I really, really, really, don't like writing and when I write a lot sometimes my hand hurts." A few students described writing as a "horrible experience."</p> <hd id="AN0122848520-5">Who Students Depict in Their Drawings</hd> <p>Most often, students drew themselves alone. However, not all students seemed to construe this isolation as negative. Nearly one half of student drawings indicated a positive writing experience (e.g., Figures 1 and 5), whereas only about one third indicated a negative writing experience (e.g., Figures 2, 3, and 4).</p> <p>Given that students often write in a classroom with their teacher and peers present, we were surprised at the level of isolation depicted in students' drawings of their writing experiences. In particular, we expected peers to have a greater presence across the drawings and written responses.</p> <p>Certainly, writers often write alone; however, a process approach to writing and peer collaboration throughout the writing process was relatively common across the elementary classrooms participating in this study. Boscolo and Gelati (2007) regarded collaborative writing as "an essential element for leading students to appreciate and enjoy writing as a process and a product" (p. 305). However, the responsibility of designing instructional activities that provide students with opportunities to collaborate primarily falls on the shoulders of teachers (Allington & Cunningham, 2002).</p> <p>Teachers were present in nearly a quarter of the total drawings and written descriptions, represented equally across student drawings and responses indicating positive and negative writing experiences. Drawings coded as positive experiences often depicted students and teachers with wide smiles (see Figure 6). Some students described their teachers as "funny" or "proud." A few students described specific ways that their teachers are supportive. For example, one student wrote about how his teacher helped him find sources for his research project.</p> <p>Drawings coded as negative included students and/ or teachers frowning. More than half of the negative drawings with both teachers and students presented the teachers smiling and the student(s) frowning. For example, one student drew her teacher behind his desk smiling and facing the class while she and her classmate frowned at him. She included a thought bubble above her head that read, "Why do we have to do this?"</p> <p>Although students who included their teachers in their drawings illustrated both positive and negative experiences, relative proximity between the teacher and students differed among the drawings. Whereas student drawings coded as positive experiences often showed teachers and students near one another (e.g., Figure 6), greater relative distance between teachers and students was evident in the majority of drawings depicting negative experiences with writing. For example, Figure 7 illustrates a student struggling with a writing assignment while his teacher instructs him on choosing a topic. Similarly, Figure 8 shows a student frowning at his desk while he writes; his teacher is facing away from him across the room at his desk.</p> <p>Evident in student drawings and responses and in line with findings from other studies (e.g., Toste, Heath, Connor, & Peng, 2015), teachers can play an important role in setting the affective tone for the classroom. Teachers have the power to create a classroom culture that communicates academic collaboration. If students' drawings indicate that they feel isolated from or at odds with peers and teachers when writing, teachers may want to consider the role of collaboration in their classrooms. Findings from recent research suggest links between collaborative writing activities and student engagement and performance (Fernández Dobao & Blum, 2013). Allowing students to comment on one another's writing is one simple collaborative activity that has been linked to positive writing motivation (Li, Chu, & Ki, 2014).</p> <p>Similarly, teachers should write with their students. Modeling writing for students has numerous benefits, but perhaps the most relevant here is that it allows students to see teachers as members of a classroom writing community (Graves, 1983).</p> <hd id="AN0122848520-6">How Students Depict Engagement</hd> <p>Nearly half of the students' drawings depicted some form of engagement with their writing, and the majority of these illustrated students' active engagement (see Figure 5). All drawings coded as actively engaged depicted students either with a writing utensil in hand or at the computer. Not surprisingly, engaged students described more pleasant experiences with writing than their disengaged peers.</p> <p>Some students drew themselves actively disengaged from the writing process. These drawings illustrated students refusing to write in some way. For instance, Figure 4 shows a student slumped at his desk with his writing in a nearby paper shredder. Again, not surprisingly, most drawings of unengaged writers depicted students as unhappy.</p> <p>Related to students' drawings of engagement, a few students discussed writing strategies as ways that helped them connect with and improve their writing. Strategies mentioned typically related to prewriting activities. For example, one student shared that using a "writing web" helps him when he is "stuck in a jam." Similarly, another student commented that "prewriting helps you organize your writing." One student wrote about his speechwriting experience when he ran for student government at his elementary school. His drawing included two small sketches: in the first, he is writing at his desk with a question mark over his head (caption: "problem"); the second shows him writing at the same desk with an exclamation point over his head (caption: "solution"). Endearingly, he wrote,</p> <p>Getting elected would mean so much for me, so I needed [to] work extra hard on [my speech]. About halfway through writing it, I figured out that there was very much I can do for my school, but I needed to sell the reader. I felt determined to have people vote for me. After focusing on how my audience would react to my writing, I made a terrific paper and only lost by one vote.</p> <p>Teaching students effective strategies to use in their writing is one way teachers can begin to help students be and feel more successful in their writing, as experiences with success can often lead to increased engagement (Pajares, Johnson, & Usher, 2007). Further, the National Commission on Writing (2003) asserted that "time is writing's great ally" (p. 28). Students need daily, sustained classroom time devoted to writing instruction and practice to become confident, engaged, and successful writers. Elbow (1998) suggested that daily freewriting--the practice of writing nonstop for 10 minutes without revising--can help writers learn how to get words on paper even when they don't want to write and claimed it is "the best all-around practice in writing [he knows]." (p. 13). Teachers whose students seem disengaged from writing may find it useful to have students freewrite before beginning an assignment, as this might allow them to establish some momentum.</p> <hd id="AN0122848520-7">Students Draw and Write About Their Writing Motivation</hd> <p>Students' drawings and written responses revealed their beliefs of confidence and autonomy related to their writing,</p> <p>Confidence. Most drawings and written responses in this category represented students as confident writers. One student drew herself jumping up and down with the word "Yay!" She wrote in her description,</p> <p>When I did this writing the words just kept coming and coming [and] before I knew it, the paper was full. As I looked down at my paper, I thought, "Wow, I did this, this is amazing. [It's] one of my best writings ever!" I felt like I could climb a mountain in one step. I can't even begin to tell you how excited I was.</p> <p>Another student wrote, "Writing makes me feel like I've accomplished something good."</p> <p>Other students wrote about the ways that their writing is improving. For example, a student described his drawing this way:</p> <p>I liked [the writing] because I worked really hard on it. I wasn't so good at writing. Then, when I wrote that I felt like it made me a little better. Now, I like writing more than I used to.</p> <p>Some students seemed to lack confidence in their writing abilities. For example, one student included "No not good enough" in the speech bubble in her drawing. Another commented, "Whenever I have to write about something I don't have many ideas. Sometimes I don't know how to put my sentences. I am not a big writer and not very good at using words in my sentences." One student who believed that he was "not good at writting" also wrote, "When I have writting homework I don't have no one to help me." The majority of the drawings and responses in this category depicted negative feelings associated with their lack of confidence. For example, one student wrote, "Writing makes me feel crumy because I always do a teribale job."</p> <p>Many student drawings and written responses related to high or low confidence also related to the emotions students felt during the writing experience. Whereas student responses reflecting high confidence captured many of the good feelings (e.g., pride, joy) often associated with accomplishment, student responses reflecting low confidence typically included negative self-references.</p> <p>Empirical evidence across the field suggests that students' self-efficacy beliefs, or their beliefs in their capability to accomplish a specific task, can strongly predict their academic engagement and achievement (Greene, Miller, Crowson, Duke, & Akey, 2004). With regards to writing, self-efficacy beliefs have also been shown to positively relate to the ways students perceive writing feedback and manage the writing process (Ekholm, Zumbrunn, & Conklin, 2015; Zumbrunn, Marrs, & Mewborn, 2016).</p> <p>The most powerful way to boost self-efficacy is to experience success; however, students are not always aware of how successful they are. Documenting students' progress with individual charts, student journals, and writing portfolios can help them become aware of their accomplishments, encourage them to persevere through difficult writing tasks, and establish future goals (Garcia & de Caso, 2006). Although sharing their growth with teachers can be motivating for students, it is critical that student documenting be kept private from their peers, emphasizing self-comparison and not comparison with others. Public displays of ability (e.g., star charts) encourage competition and can undermine student motivation and success (Bandura, 1993).</p> <p>Choice. The presence or absence of choice or interest was evident in many students' drawings and written responses. For example, one student wrote, "I usually think my best when I am interested in something." Another wrote, "I drew myself writing about my favorite topic, Greek and Roman mythology. I felt hooked in and felt like I had to finish it because it was so good." Several student responses featuring choice referred to opportunities for students to freewrite.</p> <p>Lack of choice was a theme in the drawings and responses of a few students. Some students' responses described experiences when they felt forced to write. One student wrote, "I'm not happy and I am almost always really stressed out at the end of a paper. When I write, I like to write about what's on my mind, not have something I'm told to write about."</p> <p>Students need opportunities for autonomy in their learning (Ryan & Deci, 2000). Findings from this study and others (e.g., Miller & Meece, 1999) present evidence that choice and interest can be strong motivational factors in the classroom. Some students in this study alluded that the control of writing tasks often resides in the hands of their teachers. More than half of the students referenced writing prompt assignments. Although the majority of students shared their positive experiences with writing prompts, some students described writing prompts in a negative light. One student explained her experience: "I didn't feel comfortable while writing the [prompt] because you only had to pick one book character and what you would do with him/ her and that made me mad." Other students described valuable writing tasks as opportunities that afford ways for them to write with meaningful purpose or express their feelings or creativity.</p> <p>Providing students with opportunities to write authentically in multiple different ways may encourage more students to see writing in a favorable light (Zumbrunn & Krause, 2012). Atwell (1998) suggested that teachers and students list their writing territories, which include topics they're interested in writing about, genres they may want to try to write in, and audiences they might want to write for. Allowing students to write in their own territories can infuse the writing classroom with choice and authenticity.</p> <hd id="AN0122848520-8">Instructional Value Added Through Multiple Measures</hd> <p>Both drawings and written responses are necessary for a more complete understanding of student perceptions of writing. As seen in Tables 1 and 2, analyzing either drawings or written responses in isolation only uncovers a fraction of the story. For example, we found that several students drew themselves smiling or frowning, and although we can roughly gauge from their drawings that they are either happy or unhappy, students' written responses allow for a deeper understanding of why they feel the way they do.</p> <p>We also found many instances where students' drawings provided evidence about their beliefs regarding writing above and beyond their written responses. Perhaps the most striking example of this is how students depicted teachers in their drawings. About a quarter of the total drawings and written responses included teachers and represented both positive and negative experiences. The drawings, however, symbolically illustrated students' perceptions of their teachers' behaviors and, ultimately, the classroom climate in ways that the written responses did not.</p> <p>Drawings indicating positive writing experiences showed teachers closer to students and often showed them smiling, whereas drawings indicating negative writing experiences showed teachers farther away from students. Somewhat disturbingly, these drawings also often showed teachers smiling, although the students themselves were frowning. Though a few students described ways in which their teachers were supportive in their written responses, students' perceptions about the support and warmth of the writing environment, or lack thereof, were much more evident in their drawings. Given that students who perceive their teachers as supportive are generally more academically successful than their peers with less supportive perceptions of their teachers (Klem & Connell, 2004), this is a significant finding, and one that may not have arisen from written responses alone.</p> <p>Student drawings may also prove to be a useful scaffold for supporting class discussions about students' writing beliefs and experiences. Often used as ways to democratically set norms, procedures, and rules in classrooms (Angell, 2004), student-led class meetings provide structured opportunities for students to safely share their concerns. Because fostering empathy and cooperation are hallmarks of student-led class meetings, we believe these meetings are well suited for students to discuss their feelings related to writing.</p> <hd id="AN0122848520-9">Important Considerations</hd> <p>To use the tools presented in this article, it is essential that teachers engage at least one other person in analyzing and discussing student drawings and written responses to ensure that interpretations drawn from the data are reliable. To further ensure that interpretations are valid, it is important for teachers to consider the drawings and written responses alongside other measures of student perceptions of writing such as individual or class conversations, student body language, and student engagement in writing tasks. Also, for students to feel comfortable sharing their perceptions in any format, it is critical that teachers create a classroom environment that is safe and warm and that welcomes students to take risks (Zambo, 2006). Finally, we recommend that teachers employ the combination of student drawings, written responses, and conversations about the experience of writing multiple times throughout the year to continuously assess instructional efforts to foster a positive writing environment for their students.</p> <hd id="AN0122848520-10">Conclusion</hd> <p>Over time, parents learn to spot telltale signs of illness in their children: a slight shift in the timbre of their voice, an unusual pallor, a marked decrease in energy. So, too, do teachers develop ways to quickly take the temperature of their writing classrooms. They ask students to raise their hands if they have questions. They conference with and observe students while they write. Asking students to illustrate their experiences with writing is another effective--and relatively simple--method to gauge students' perceptions (Haney et al., 2004). When these methods are coupled with opportunities for students to explain their ideas and drawings, students can offer insights that can help teachers assess the health of their writing classrooms.</p> <p>We believe that we value and honor students' voices when we give them opportunities to share what they know, see, and feel. There is power in a drawing of a grinning student with a lightbulb over his head while sitting down to plan an essay. Sadly, there is also power in a drawing of a student feeding his writing into a paper shredder, thinking to himself, "That's better," as his writing is chewed apart by the shredder's metal teeth. Students have a great deal to share with their teachers about who they are as writers and how they feel about the writing process. Letting them share with us in multiple forms allows them to tell us what is important.</p> <hd id="AN0122848520-11">NOTE</hd> <p>Funding for this study was provided by the Virginia Commonwealth University Foundation Langschultz Fund and the Virginia Commonwealth University Presidential Research Incentive Program.</p> <hd id="AN0122848520-12">PAUSE AND PONDER</hd> <p>* If you were to take the temperature of your writing classroom, what might the thermometer read?</p> <p>* In what ways do you currently gauge your students' perceptions of writing?</p> <p>* How might students' drawings and written responses inform your instructional practice?</p> <hd id="AN0122848520-13">TAKE ACTION!</hd> <p>1. Ask your students to draw a picture of a recent experience they had with writing and how that experience made them feel.</p> <ulist> <item>2. What did students draw? Ask them to write a description of their drawing.</item> <item>3. Bring the class together to discuss the students' drawings. Take note of common ideas that emerge during the discussion.</item> <item>4. Analyze students' drawings and written responses using Tables 1 and 2.</item> <item>5. Reflect on the class conversation and your analysis of students' drawings and written responses. Use the data to plan your instruction and foster student writing engagement and success.</item> </ulist> <hd id="AN0122848520-14">Table 1 Positive Features and Feature Drawing and Text Example Clues</hd> <p> <ephtml> <div class="table-size-normal table-border"><table border="1"> <tr> <td>Positive feature</td> <td>Clues to look for in drawings</td> <td>Clues to look for in text</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Emotion</td> <td></td> <td></td> </tr> <tr> <td>Joy</td> <td>Smiling face, hearts, balloons</td> <td>"Happy," "love," "excited," "fun"</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Others present</td> <td></td> <td></td> </tr> <tr> <td>Teachers</td> <td>Smiling and aware teacher(s); positive teacher/student interaction</td> <td>Teachers described as funny, proud, or helpful</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Classmates</td> <td>Smiling classmates(s); positive peer interaction</td> <td>Classmates described as happy, engaged, or helpful</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Engagement</td> <td></td> <td></td> </tr> <tr> <td>Active engagement</td> <td>Student drawn actively writing</td> <td></td> </tr> <tr> <td>Motivation</td> <td></td> <td></td> </tr> <tr> <td>High confidence</td> <td></td> <td>Student described feelings of pride, success, achievement</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Choice</td> <td></td> <td>"Interest," "topic choice," "freewriting"</td> </tr> </table></div> </ephtml> </p> <hd id="AN0122848520-15">Table 2 Negative Features and Feature Drawing and Text Example Clues</hd> <p> <ephtml> <div class="table-size-normal table-border"><table border="1"> <tr> <td>Negative feature</td> <td>Clues to look for in drawings</td> <td>Clues to look for in text</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Emotion</td> <td></td> <td></td> </tr> <tr> <td>Unhappiness</td> <td>Frowning/scowling face, paper shredder</td> <td>"Sad," "angry," "dread," "horrible"</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Frustration</td> <td>Question marks</td> <td>"Frustrated," "overwhelmed," "stuck"</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Apathy</td> <td>Straight mouth on face</td> <td>"Boring," "not excited"</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Anxiety</td> <td>Shaking person; squiggly mouth on face</td> <td>"Stress," "nervous," "afraid"</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Others present</td> <td></td> <td></td> </tr> <tr> <td>Teachers</td> <td>Frowning or unaware teacher(s); negative teacher/student interaction</td> <td>Teacher described as unhappy or disengaged</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Classmates</td> <td>Frowning classmate(s); negative peer interaction</td> <td>Classmates described as unhappy, disengaged</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Engagement</td> <td></td> <td></td> </tr> <tr> <td>Disengaged</td> <td>Student drawn refusing to write</td> <td></td> </tr> <tr> <td>Motivation</td> <td></td> <td></td> </tr> <tr> <td>Low confidence</td> <td></td> <td>Student described feelings of inadequacy or low success</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Little choice</td> <td></td> <td>"Forced," "have to do," "uninteresting"</td> </tr> </table></div> </ephtml> </p> <p>Figure 1 Student Drawing of Positive Features for Writing</p> <p>Figure 2 Student Drawing of Boredom With Writing</p> <p>Figure 3 Student Drawing of Anxiety During the Writing Process</p> <p>Figure 4 Student Drawing of Negative Features for Writing</p> <p>Figure 5 Student Drawing of Writing Engagement</p> <p>Figure 6 Student Drawing of Positive Teacher Interaction</p> <p>Figure 7 Student Drawing of Negative Teacher Interaction</p> <p>Figure 8 Student Drawing of Negative Teacher Interaction</p> <hd id="AN0122848520-16">REFERENCES</hd> <p>Allington, R.L., & Cunningham, P.M. (2002). Schools that work: Where all children read and write. Boston, MA: Allyn & Bacon.</p> <p>Angell, A.V. (2004). Making peace in elementary classrooms: A case for class meetings. Theory and Research in Social Education, 32(<reflink idref="bib1" id="ref1">1</reflink>), 98-104. doi:10.1080/00933104.2004.10473245</p> <p>Atwell, N. (1998). In the middle: New understandings about writing, reading, and learning (2nd ed.). Portsmouth, NH: Boynton/ Cook.</p> <p>Bandura, A. (1993). Perceived self-efficacy in cognitive development and functioning. Educational Psychologist, 28(<reflink idref="bib2" id="ref2">2</reflink>), 117-148. doi:10.1207/s15326985ep2802_3</p> <p>Boscolo, P., & Gelati, C. (2007). Best practices in promoting motivation for writing. In S. Graham, C.A. MacArthur, & J. Fitzgerald (Eds.), Best practices in writing instruction (pp. 202-221). New York, NY: Guilford.</p> <p>Bruning, R., Dempsey, M., Kauffman, D.F., McKim, C., & Zumbrunn, S. (2013). Examining dimensions of selfefficacy for writing. Journal of Educational Psychology, 105(<reflink idref="bib1" id="ref3">1</reflink>), 25-38. doi:10.1037/a0029692</p> <p>Bruning, R., & Horn, C. (2000). Developing motivation to write. Educational Psychologist, 35(<reflink idref="bib1" id="ref4">1</reflink>), 25-37. doi:10.1207/ S15326985EP3501_4</p> <p>Cutler, L., & Graham, S. (2008). Primary grade writing instruction: A national survey. Journal of Educational Psychology, 100(<reflink idref="bib4" id="ref5">4</reflink>), 907-919. doi:10.1037/a0012656</p> <p>Ekholm, E., Zumbrunn, S., & Conklin, S. (2015). The relation of college student self-efficacy toward writing and writing self-regulation: Writing feedback perceptions as a mediating variable. Teaching in Higher Education, 20(<reflink idref="bib2" id="ref6">2</reflink>), 197-207. doi:10.1080/13562517.2014.974026</p> <p>Elbow, P. (1998). Writing with power: Techniques for mastering the writing process (2nd ed.). New York, NY: Oxford University Press.</p> <p>Fernández Dobao, A., & Blum, A. (2013). Collaborative writing in pairs and small groups: Learners' attitudes and perceptions. System, 41(<reflink idref="bib2" id="ref7">2</reflink>), 365-378. doi:10.1016/j.system.2013.02.002</p> <p>Garcia, J., & de Caso, A. (2006). Changes in writing self-efficacy and writing products and processes through specific training in the self-efficacy beliefs of students with learning disabilities. Learning Disabilities, 4(<reflink idref="bib2" id="ref8">2</reflink>), 1-27.</p> <p>Graham, S., Berninger, V., & Abbott, R. (2012). Are attitudes toward writing and reading separable constructs? A study with primary-grade children. Reading & Writing Quarterly, 28(<reflink idref="bib1" id="ref9">1</reflink>), 51-69. doi:10.1080/10573569.2012.632732</p> <p>Graham, S., Berninger, V., & Fan, W. (2007). The structural relationship between writing attitude and writing achievement in first-and third-grade students. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 32(<reflink idref="bib3" id="ref10">3</reflink>), 516-536. doi:10.1016/j.cedpsych.2007.01.002</p> <p>Graves, D. (1983). Writing: Teachers and children at work. Exeter, NH: Heinemann.</p> <p>Graves, D. (1994). A fresh look at writing. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.</p> <p>Greene, B.A., Miller, R.B., Crowson, H.M., Duke, B.L., & Akey, K.L. (2004). Predicting high school students' cognitive engagement and achievement: Contributions of classroom perceptions and motivation. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 29(<reflink idref="bib4" id="ref11">4</reflink>), 462-482. doi:10.1016/j. cedpsych.2004.01.006</p> <p>Haney, W., Russell, M., & Bebell, D. (2004). Drawing on education: Using drawings to document schooling and support change. Harvard Educational Review, 74(<reflink idref="bib3" id="ref12">3</reflink>), 241-272. doi:10.17763/haer.74.3.w0817u84w7452011</p> <p>Klem, A.M., & Connell, J.P. (2004). Relationships matter: Linking teacher support to student engagement and achievement. Journal of School Health, 74(<reflink idref="bib7" id="ref13">7</reflink>), 262-273. doi:10.1111/j.1746-1561.2004.tb08283.x</p> <p>Le Count, D. (2000). Working with "difficult" children from the inside out: Loss and bereavement and how the creative arts can help. Pastoral Care in Education, 18(<reflink idref="bib2" id="ref14">2</reflink>), 17-27. doi:10.1111/1468-0122.00157</p> <aug> <p>By Sharon Zumbrunn; Eric Ekholm; J. K. Stringer; Kimberly McKnight and Morgan DeBusk-Lane</p> <p></p> <p>Sharon Zumbrunn is an associate professor in the School of Education at Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, USA; e-mail skzumbrunn@vcu.edu.</p> <p>Eric Ekholm is a doctoral student at Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, USA; e-mail ekholmeh@vcu.edu.</p> <p>J.K. Stringer is a doctoral student at Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, USA; e-mail stringerjk@vcu.edu.</p> <p>Kimberly McKnight is a doctoral student at Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, USA; e-mail mcknightkw@vcu.edu.</p> <p>Morgan DeBusk-Lane is a doctoral student at Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, USA; e-mail debusklaneml@vcu.edu.</p> </aug> <nolink nlid="nl1" bibid="bib1" firstref="ref1"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl2" bibid="bib2" firstref="ref2"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl3" bibid="bib4" firstref="ref5"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl4" bibid="bib3" firstref="ref10"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl5" bibid="bib7" firstref="ref13"></nolink>
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  Data: Student Experiences with Writing: Taking the Temperature of the Classroom
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Zumbrunn%2C+Sharon%22">Zumbrunn, Sharon</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Ekholm%2C+Eric%22">Ekholm, Eric</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Stringer%2C+J%2E+K%2E%22">Stringer, J. K.</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22McKnight%2C+Kimberly%22">McKnight, Kimberly</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22DeBusk-Lane%2C+Morgan%22">DeBusk-Lane, Morgan</searchLink>
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="SO" term="%22Reading+Teacher%22"><i>Reading Teacher</i></searchLink>. May-Jun 2017 70(6):667-677.
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  Data: Wiley-Blackwell. 350 Main Street, Malden, MA 02148. Tel: 800-835-6770; Tel: 781-388-8598; Fax: 781-388-8232; e-mail: cs-journals@wiley.com; Web site: http://www.wiley.com/WileyCDA
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  Data: 11
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  Data: Journal Articles<br />Reports - Research
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="EL" term="%22Grade+5%22">Grade 5</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="EL" term="%22Intermediate+Grades%22">Intermediate Grades</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="EL" term="%22Middle+Schools%22">Middle Schools</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="EL" term="%22Elementary+Education%22">Elementary Education</searchLink>
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  Data: 10.1002/trtr.1574
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  Data: 0034-0561
– Name: Abstract
  Label: Abstract
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  Data: This article offers insights into students' perceptions of writing through the use of drawings and written responses. In a descriptive qualitative study of fifth graders across two diverse elementary schools, students were prompted to draw a picture about a recent experience with writing and how that experience made them feel. Students were then asked to write a description of their drawings. We studied features in the drawings and written responses and constructed four thematic categories. Findings highlight the range of both positive and negative experiences with writing as well as a realistic tool for literacy teachers to use to take the temperature of the classroom.
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