Sketchnoting for Kids!

My Pencil Made Me Do It #MPMMDI

Over Winter Break I read Carrie Baughcum's book My Pencil Made Me Do It  and I absolutely loved it! After posting about it, one of my 5th grade teachers asked if I'd come in and demonstrate Sketchnoting for her class so she could give them another note taking option in class. I was super excited to pull something together for them!   
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Sketchnoting Wakelet Collection!

I started to gather my resources in Wakelet (which is basically how I plan out my presentations and lessons for kids - give it a try!) so their teacher could add it to their Google Classroom for further research. I figured that the kids that really liked the idea would want to explore more. 
​Here it is if you want to make a copy of it and add your own resources to it. 

The Lesson...

⓵ I talked with the kids about what Sketchnoting is and why it's helpful with the visuals in the Wakelet collection. 
⓶ Then I showed them the video from Carrie, "A Beginner's Guide To Sketchnoting".
⓷ After the video, I showed them some of my own Sketchnotes (making sure to mention that I've been drawing a lot longer than them so they wouldn't compare themselves to me or not do it because they don't feel like they can draw). I use them for reflecting and capturing my favorite parts of my professional development books so I always have them with me to refer to. 
⓸ Next we talked about icon libraries and how that would help them in different subjects for notetaking. 
⓹ Then I showed them the video of student examples, which was perfect because they are not picture perfect examples.  I wanted to make sure they understood that it's not about how good the drawing is, it's about their thinking!  
⓺Application time: Their teacher then had them re-read a section in their Social Studies workbooks so they could add their visual thinking right in the book or in their notebook.   Some of them added speech bubbles next to each paragraph with a character as a summary, some of them drew out a time line, and some of them underlined the vocabulary and drew something that helped them remember what it meant. All great examples! 

Everyone used Sketchnoting differently, and that's exactly what we wanted to happen.  It's personal and unique to each student, just like their beautiful minds! 

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​Sketchnoting for Teachers 

Until I pulled my resources together for our 5th grade students, I didn't realize that Carrie has these great videos for teachers. If you have an interest in Sketchnoting in the classroom, you should check them out!  Even though these videos are meant for teachers, you can show your students too.  Even better, let them learn with you! 
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Next Steps...

Next time I go in, I'll introduce the Learning Mascot to them! You'll find that resource at the bottom of the Wakelet collection.  I highly recommend Carrie's book if this idea intrigues you! Yes, there are many Sketchnoting resources and books out there... what I love about this one is that it's not about the perfect lettering and icons, it's about the thinking behind it. I hope you give it a try!   
If you do, make sure to share your ideas on Twitter using #MPMMDI and tag Carrie so she can see all the good things that came out of a wonderful idea shared with the world! 
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Happy Sketchnoting! ~Pam 

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