By: Courtney Adams

Do you know about sketchnoting?  Have you ever considered using it in yourclassroom with students as a way to plan writing assignments?  I firstlearned about sketchnoting at the ISTE conference in 2016 and immediately became excited to get started. After dabbling with it myself for a few years, I wrote an application to my school district to create and pilot a sketchnoting course with students.   I now teach a sketchnoting elective class for 7th & 8th graders at Longs Peak Middle School in St. Vrain Valley Schools.  Along my sketchnoting journey, I have also had the opportunity to work with the staff at my school, the technology support specialists for SVVSD, as well as educators at various professional learning courses.  Sketchnoting is for everyone!  This school year, I started taking our sketchnoting projects to the next level by being cross curricular to help students plan for writing assignments in their core classes.  

Sketchnoting is a visual form of note-taking that combines words with visuals and uses various types of lettering styles to emphasize important words.  Sketchnotes can be done freestyle (lacking organizational structure) or be organized in a way that fits the purpose of the information.  Here at LPMS, we are a school that uses Thinking Maps as a way to process new learning and plan for writing.  Whether you use Thinking Maps or other types of graphic organizers with your students in the classroom, research is showing that adding a visual component can help to solidify ideas, make connections to information, and increase memory retention.¹  

As students in my class have been working on writing tasks such as persuasive essays, personal narratives, expository writing on topics being studied in science and social studies, and descriptive writing about personal values, I have partnered with core teachers to sketchnote out their thoughts and ideas on their topics.  While for us, this is happening in two separate classrooms at times, this could be done as a seamless single process with one teacher.  Based on the purpose of writing the students are working on, we match the structure of sketchnote/Thinking Map/graphic organizer to go best with their task.  I encourage my students to sketchnote in a combination of English when they can and their native language when they need to so that all their ideas get represented.  So far I have loved seeing projects come in that include Spanish and Traditional Chinese and I look forward to seeing what my students from Ukraine and Afghanistan sketchnote in the future!

SVVSD is a 1:1 iPad district.  In my sketchnoting class, students use the Notability app with Logitech Crayons.  I find that there is a lot of power in having an undo button for kids that fear making mistakes and are challenged in getting started on a task.  With technology, in addition to the undo button, students are able to cut/move/resize objects that are drawn.  While these tools all help in sketchnoting efficiency, none of them are required for sketchnoting!  Using blank paper  (or papers already organized with a various graphic organizer structure) and colors, students are able to access the same higher level of thinking and connection to their work.  

To get students started with sketchnoting, I usually try to pair up a sketchnoting structure that we will use academically with a more fun choice topic.  For example, when I want kids to prepare for a compare/contrast type of task, I will first have them sketchnote PE vs. Art, computers vs. books, or eyeglasses vs. braces.  When I want them to prepare to sketchnote main idea and supporting details, I will first have them choose a topic they are interested in and use the same bubble map/core structure.  By using a more fun, high-interest topic to get started, all students have a point of entry and a chance to engage before the assignment increases in academic difficulty.  

Students are remarkably creative when it comes to making their thinking visual.  I am constantly amazed and impressed by the things they come up with and the ways they show what they know.  Perhaps, for an upcoming writing task,  you may try introducing sketchnoting as a way for students to plan out their ideas!  Or maybe you have 5 extra minutes and need some filler.  You could try drawing some common icons or characters like globes, light bulbs, animals, school supplies, modes of transportation.  When you have even just a few minutes to spare, start sketching.  Perfection is never the goal, being creative and making connections between ideas is!

References:

1. Fernandes, M. A., Wammes, J. D., & Meade, M. E. (2018). The Surprisingly Powerful Influence of Drawing on Memory. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 27(5), 302–308.https://doi.org/10.1177/0963721418755385

Courtney Adams teaches Creative Technology electives at Longs Peak Middle School, and is in her 15th year of teaching. She loves sharing out the amazing things students can do with technology! Her personal interests include reading, traveling, iPhone photography, baking, greyhound rescue, and Coke Zero.  Find amazing student creations tweeted at @CAdamsLPMS.