Studies the relationships among children's aural perception of tonal pattern and children's symbol use in drawing and selection tasks based on tonal information. Shows that ability to use musical symbols in reading and writing tasks is related to aural perception of musical sound, and that these abilities follow a developmental progression. (DSK)

Demonstrates how art therapy helped a woman address her identity and memory difficulties while she managed her daily activities. The process helped her validate traumatic events in her history and provided a starting point for addressing internal conflicts. The client's artwork helped the therapist learn about the client's unconscious states. (MKA)

Introduces a notational system called pictography for temporarily preserving story content in interventions with children having language disorders. Children represent characters, settings, and action sequences with simple, stick-figure drawings. Benefits of narrative intervention are described, including facilitation of time sequence, increased…

Research suggests that children's drawings are reflective of their culture. Drawings of seven- and eight-year-old children from Japan and the United States revealed that Japanese children draw significantly fewer smiles; created larger figures; and have a higher number of details. The findings are interpreted within the context of cultural…

Studied the effects of borrowing norms for the Human Figure Drawing Test for use with children in Curacao, for whom there are no norms or studies of validity for this test. Results for 96 fourth graders suggest that frequency tables for the United States are better for scoring Human Figure Drawing Test results for these children than are Dutch…

Discusses a program designed for a multiethnic classroom setting that uses drawing and storytelling to help immigrant and refugee children build bridges between the past and the future by attaching meaning to experience. Results show that the three themes found in the children's work -- family, friends, and myths -- are factors that can protect…

Examined emergence of a writing system in 4- to 12- year-olds. Found transition occurring around age 6 in which production was more fluent for writing than drawing and activation of one system interfered with the other. Modeling consolidation of both phenomena generated testable parameters for development, involving increasing specialization and…

Examined implicit learning in 432 four- to 10-year-olds in 3 experiments, using a new paradigm based on drawing behavior. Found that children modified drawing behavior following specially devised practice in such a way that the changes could not be viewed as resulting from deliberate adaptive strategies, with modifications lasting for at least 1…

Treatment of nightmares in two Vietnam veterans with posttraumatic stress disorder was conducted comparing a drawing task with a writing task. In a 12-week intervention in which drawing and writing were alternated, both subjects reported reduction in frequency and intensity of their nightmares in the drawing condition. (JPS)

Explored four- to six-year olds' approach to drawing and related writing tasks. Participants, unschooled in writing, were asked to depict common objects with a drawing and a written name. Analysis of videotape revealed systematic differences (random, continuous marks versus discrete, left-to-right marks). Results suggest that young children have…

Notes the growing interest in optimizing students' literacy development through the integration of multiple sign systems as vehicles for learning. Suggests that the most important contribution that the endless categories of signs offer to the teaching and learning of literacy is the idea that the multiple communication modalities of sign systems…

Investigates young peoples' knowledge and the culture influence using a cross-sectional approach. Involves n=586 pupils from 11 different countries and analyzes resultant drawings using a seven point scale where the criterion was anatomical accuracy. (Contains 24 references.) (Author/YDS)

Considers how the connection--between teacher and student, art and thinking--establishes art as a means of expression in the literacy classroom. Notes that when drawing is part of the writing and reading process, it can help give ideas for writing and teach skills of observation, skills that encourage reading the world and reading the image. (SG)

Describes how sketch journals are used at various times throughout the day and consistently throughout the year in the author's classroom. Presents a demonstration of the theme of experience and the powerful role that it can play in helping teachers improve. Notes how the author encourages students to reach deeper and to enter their own doorways…

In this article, the authors present the rosebush fantasy drawing as a technique to use in elementary school counseling. The technique is suggested as an expressive arts method to access the emotional world of children in a non-verbal format. The specifics of presenting the technique and processing the drawing with elementary-aged students are…