BUILDING A SELF-GENERATED DRAWING ENVIRONMENT TO IMPROVE CHILDREN’S PERFORMANCE IN WRITING AND STORYTELLING

Abstract

This study develops a self-generated drawing environment for the support of young children’s writing and storytelling skill through the implementation of drawing, writing, and storytelling activities. In particular, each student used a tablet PC to share a story and drawings based on written text. An experiment was conducted in a primary school with 116 1st grade students from four classes (divided into two groups, EG: experimental group, n = 87; CG: control group, n = 29) and three teachers over the period of one semester in order to understand the influence of the activities on the students’ writing and storytelling skills. Students participated in four rounds of experimental activity from drawing to writing and storytelling; each round consisted of a drawing, writing, and storytelling session. The findings indicated that 1) the length of the writing increased gradually; 2) the quantity (richness of vocabulary) and quality (story structure) of the storytelling of the students in the EG were significantly different and better than in the CG. Finally, some implications about the experimental results are also discussed.