Brainstorming and Idea GenerationActivities & Teaching Strategies
Drawing as writing is a natural entry point for young children, where ideas flow freely before the constraints of letters and spelling take hold. Active learning helps children connect their visual thinking to storytelling, making abstract concepts concrete and building confidence in their ability to communicate.
Learning Objectives
- 1Generate a variety of ideas for a story using brainstorming techniques such as drawing, mind mapping, or free writing.
- 2Organize initial story ideas into a simple graphic organizer to identify key elements.
- 3Explain how a drawing can represent a story or an event to a peer.
- 4Create a visual representation of a personal experience or imagination to share with the class.
Want a complete lesson plan with these objectives? Generate a Mission →
Peer Teaching: Read My Picture
Students draw a 'news' item from their morning. They then sit with a partner and 'read' the drawing as if it were a written story, pointing to different parts of the picture to explain the details.
Prepare & details
What story would you like to tell today?
Facilitation Tip: During Peer Teaching: Read My Picture, model how to hold up a drawing and describe it slowly, pointing to details as you speak.
Setup: Presentation area at front, or multiple teaching stations
Materials: Topic assignment cards, Lesson planning template, Peer feedback form, Visual aid supplies
Gallery Walk: The Story Wall
Students display their drawings on their desks. The class walks around, and for each drawing, they must try to guess one thing that is happening. The 'author' then confirms or explains the true story.
Prepare & details
How can you use a drawing to share your ideas with others?
Facilitation Tip: For the Gallery Walk: The Story Wall, place students in small groups so they can discuss each other’s work without feeling overwhelmed by the whole class.
Setup: Wall space or tables arranged around room perimeter
Materials: Large paper/poster boards, Markers, Sticky notes for feedback
Inquiry Circle: Detail Detectives
In small groups, students look at a wordless picture book. They discuss how the artist showed that a character was happy or that it was windy. They then try to add one 'meaningful detail' to their own drawings.
Prepare & details
Can you draw something that happened to you and then tell us about it?
Facilitation Tip: During Collaborative Investigation: Detail Detectives, provide magnifying glasses to emphasize close observation and the importance of small details in storytelling.
Setup: Groups at tables with access to source materials
Materials: Source material collection, Inquiry cycle worksheet, Question generation protocol, Findings presentation template
Teaching This Topic
Teachers should treat drawing as a legitimate writing stage, not a preliminary step to be rushed past. Avoid correcting or redrawing children’s work, as this can discourage their creative expression. Instead, ask open-ended questions to help them articulate their ideas, using their drawings as the primary text.
What to Expect
Successful learning looks like students who can explain their drawings with detail and purpose, using gestures, words, or their artwork to share ideas. They should begin to see themselves as storytellers, even when their compositions are mostly visual.
These activities are a starting point. A full mission is the experience.
- Complete facilitation script with teacher dialogue
- Printable student materials, ready for class
- Differentiation strategies for every learner
Watch Out for These Misconceptions
Common MisconceptionDuring Peer Teaching: Read My Picture, parents and students may think drawing is 'just play' and not 'real writing'.
What to Teach Instead
Use this activity to model narrating drawings by pointing to details and asking students to describe what they see. Emphasize that the words they use to explain their art are the start of their writing process.
Common MisconceptionStudents might feel they 'can't write' because they don't know their letters.
What to Teach Instead
During the Gallery Walk: The Story Wall, highlight that each drawing has a story behind it, regardless of letter knowledge. Ask students to share their drawings with peers to show that ideas come first, and writing skills follow.
Assessment Ideas
During Collaborative Investigation: Detail Detectives, observe students as they draw or create mind maps. Ask each student, 'Tell me about one idea you have for your story,' or 'What does this picture show?' Note their ability to articulate their thoughts using their artwork as reference.
After Gallery Walk: The Story Wall, gather students in a circle. Present a simple prompt, such as 'If you could fly anywhere, where would you go?' Ask students to share one idea they had for this prompt, either by showing a drawing or by saying a word. Encourage them to explain their idea briefly.
After Peer Teaching: Read My Picture, provide each student with a small piece of paper. Ask them to draw one thing they might want to write a story about. Collect these drawings to see the range of ideas generated and to use as a starting point for future writing activities.
Extensions & Scaffolding
- Challenge early finishers to add a second scene to their drawing that shows what happens next in their story.
- For students who struggle, provide sentence starters on strips of paper to help them verbalize their ideas before drawing.
- Deeper exploration: Invite students to create a three-part storyboard using their drawings to sequence their story from beginning to end.
Key Vocabulary
| Brainstorming | Thinking of many ideas quickly, without judging them, to help start a project or solve a problem. |
| Mind Map | A drawing that starts with one idea in the center and branches out with related ideas, words, and pictures. |
| Graphic Organizer | A tool, often a chart or diagram, that helps organize thoughts and information visually. |
| Idea Generation | The process of coming up with new thoughts or concepts, especially for a story or a piece of writing. |
Suggested Methodologies
Planning templates for Foundations of Language and Literacy
More in Drawing and Telling Our Stories
Words Are All Around Us
Exploring different purposes for writing, such as making lists, sending cards, or telling stories.
3 methodologies
Letters and Their Sounds
Students will learn and apply advanced spelling strategies, including understanding prefixes, suffixes, root words, and common spelling patterns, to improve accuracy and expand vocabulary.
3 methodologies
Talking in Sentences
Students will learn to construct and manipulate complex and compound-complex sentences, understanding how to use clauses, phrases, and conjunctions to add detail, variety, and sophistication to their writing.
3 methodologies
Sharing Our Stories and Pictures
Students practice reading their own writing aloud and receiving feedback from peers.
3 methodologies
Ready to teach Brainstorming and Idea Generation?
Generate a full mission with everything you need
Generate a Mission