Will you help us "see" your car by drawing it for us? That was the invitation we extended to one student after he described his "suuuuper fast race car" to us at our morning meeting... Our invitation was met with quite a look of skepticism. Arthur was unsure if he could draw his car "exactly" how it really looked.
Interestingly, the children referred to the difference in color, the difference in stance, the difference in expression... everything but the face that one was a drawing and the other a photograph. Finally, we called out the difference and reminded the children that drawing was an expression of an idea while a photograph captures an exact replication of something.
This was a challenging task for Arthur considering he was reluctant to begin drawing. "It will not look like my car".
Arthur eventually drew a car and went on to label it "RACE CAR" and describe how much he loved to play with it at home!
It's fascinating that Arthur could recall and mentally visualize his beloved car but drawing it was a whole difference exercise. We know young children are concrete thinkers and perhaps this invitation was just too abstract.
With Arthurs permission, his drawing is displayed in the classroom.