Great Art Leads to Joyful Writing.

A study was conducted to determine how effectively children write when motivated by viewing a work of art and what kind of art they would choose most frequently for motivation. A group of 55 students from second, fourth, and eighth grade classrooms were selected to respond to reproductions of familiar paintings with either fictional or factual writing. After an introductory session during which the students discussed and wrote about a teacher-selected painting, students were free to select pictures of their choice from a group of 15 reproductions. The most frequently chosen piece was a realistic painting called "The Country School" by Winslow Homer. Since students were not questioned as to their reasons for choosing their pictures, the results of the study were inconclusive. (Extensive samples of student writing are included.) (AEA)