Revision Process and Practice: A Kindergarten Experience

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Readers may look at Bridget’s drawing (see Fig. 1) and have no trouble whatsoever ascribing it to a kindergartner. It has qualities and features we would expect to see from a first effort at drawing a bird: it is basic in its form, has few details, and appears to be hastily drawn. However, as Denny explains, children make deliberate decisions about their visual drafting; they understand that when they draft an image several times, it gets easier and they get better at drawing the image they wanted.

In this kindergarten class, children engaged in a yearlong study of birds. As a culminating project, they produced a minimum of four drafts of scientific drawings of birds, specifically owls. Bridget’s drafts are representative of how their drawings became more detailed and sophisticated (see Fig. 2).

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