Guided Drawing With Multilingual Preschoolers: Supporting Concept and Vocabulary Knowledge in Head Start

• In Event: Multilingual Literacies: Predictors and Practices

Abstract

Guided drawing is a research-based intervention carried out in Head Start classrooms. It was designed to support and expand young multilingual learners' concepts and vocabulary knowledge in science. The results of two eight-week, small scale studies indicate that guided drawing offers a language-rich context for supporting content-specific vocabulary. Pre-/post-test assessments of receptive, expressive, and definitional vocabularies indicate growth in all areas measured. Moreover, interacting with children during the guided drawing process as well as examining their drawings provided insights into their understandings and fragile representations--that is, instances where children retrieved semantic knowledge that was related to, but an entirely not accurate representation of the target word or concept (McGregor et al. 2002).

Authors

• Christina Cassano, Salem State University
  Presenting Author

• Kathleen A. Paciga, Columbia College Chicago
  Presenting Author