Drawing and Designing at KS1 and KS2
The Statutory Requirements:
At KS1 pupils should use their own experiences, clarify their ideas through discussion and by direct modelling with materials and components. They should communicate ideas by free hand drawing and by modelling in other ways, make suggestions about how to proceed with a design and make suggestions about how a design can be improved.
At KS2 they will use information sources to help them produce different ideas for a design considering the users and purposes for which they are designing. They should develop a dear idea of what has to be done by modelling their ideas in a variety of ways, plan how it will be achieved and evaluate the effectiveness of their design.
The Level Descriptors provide a number of indicators in the designing statement of attainment to show what pupils at various levels might be expected to achieve, these are as follows:
Level 1.
They use pictures and words to convey what they want to do.
Level 2.
Pupils use their experiences ... of techniques to help generate ideas. Use models and pictures to develop and communicate their designs.
Level 3.
Labelled sketches are used to show the details of their designs.
Level 4.
They illustrate alternatives using sketches and models and make choices between them, showing an awareness of constraints.
Level 5.
They clarify ideas through discussion and drawing.
Level 6.
They make preliminary models to explore and test their design thinking and use formal drawing methods to communicate their intentions.
Designing
Designing should not be confused with drawing. The two skills will be developed side by side but designing involves a much broader range of experiences including discussion, investigation, direct modelling with materials, generating images using computers, manipulating 'found' images (or 'copy'), sketching, making prototypes and producing a design specification.
Design skills include:
- planning
- researching and investigating
- generating ideas
- developing ideas
- evaluating ideas
- recording and communicating ideas
- using information sources when designing
Drawing Skills
Drawing skills may be developed at first through drawing pictures of what has already been made or to record design ideas created by direct modelling with materials for example. As the need arises, scale drawings of parts of a design may be produced to enable sizes to be measured off and templates for required shapes to be produced. Eventually, children will learn to use drawing as a powerful modelling tool and will draw out their designs before committing themselves to making. But this is not where they need begin and even then, drawing will remain just one way of designing: not the only way. Drawing in Design and Technology is used for: recording; communicating and designing.
Download a compressed WinZip file illustating some basic drawing techniques
Teaching drawing for making
Teachers need to recognise that making images is an important aspect of a child's development. They should comment upon such work in the same way as they do for writing and number. They should persuade children to take pride in their sketches and drawings, recognise the quality of their work and acknowledge that the levels that are achieved are legitimate reflections of progress. These steps alone will go a long way to raising the status and standard of graphical work in the classroom.
- Re-thinking the nature of drawing for making:
Designs are not necessarily artefacts that are produced by a single child at a single sitting, using just pencil and blank paper. Design drawings are often collections of activities, drawn from a variety of sources and produced over a period of time.
- Considering the appropriateness of materials:
Children may need access to a range of materials appropriate to the task. The paper they draw on is particularly important, as it provides a framework in which they can feel secure. A blank piece of white paper offers children no visual clues and is often an inappropriate material.
- Talking to the child:
Whilst the drawing is in progress and/or when it has been finished the teacher must take time to talk it through with the group or individual concerned. Asking questions about drawings will allow the teacher to get a better feel for the ideas being expressed, and will help to highlight difficulties at an early stage, before making begins.
Progression
A number of criteria may be used to reflect progression, and provide a simple framework for teachers to make expectations of children. The following represents one approach:
- Plans presented.
How plans are generated and ideas expressed e.g. verbal, simple drawings, detailed working drawings.
- Know what is to be made.
The degree to which the child knows the specification of what is to be made e.g. I will make a car, I will make a red car with six wheels.
- Know criteria for outcome.
The degree to which the child knows what function the outcome has to perform e.g. the red car must have enough space for five people.
- Know what the outcome will look like.
The degree to which the child knows what materials will be used, how they will be shaped and joined e.g. the body of the red car will be made from a plastic tub, dowel will be used for the axle...
- Know how it will be made.
The degree to which the child can predict/plan 'how' the outcome will be made e.g. firstly, I will cut the top off the plastic tub, and then I will glue...
The diagram shows a simple progression in planning and drawing skills. Children should build upon the basic elements of a wide experience of tools and materials, and a variety of experiences that aid the development of designing and making skills. They need to be helped to make connections between the 2D and 3D worlds and to build their own vocabulary of visual references -often by handling and talking about real products. These experiences are important throughout the life of the pupil.
Skill development:
Child explores and interacts with materials to produce an artefact. The nature of the artefact may change several times during making. Making is intuitive. Products evolve.
Child knows what she/he wants to make, makes it and recognises it is an item when making is complete. The final product may bear little or no resemblance to the object in real life. Child has no idea about the majority of the design criteria in advance.
Child has an idea about what is to be made and describes that verbally (and in some cases in drawing and writing). Child also begins to form views about some or all of the essential characteristics of the making process though the final product may vary from them.
Child draws a picture of what is to be made and begins to label the key parts. The picture on represents' what is to be made. The picture is not a 'plan', and the child can't necessarily make a model to this specification. Making is really continuing as in stage 3, as 'actual' materials to be used and other criteria are unknown.
Child sketches ideas or models materials to establish the basic shape of what is to be required. Child makes a working drawing of this. The plan usually shows a single view of side. The plan implies basic criteria e.g. size, shape, and nature of final outcome. Model is made but does not necessarily match the plan, which lacks some detail particularly correct proportion and size.
Following initial sketches or notes a working drawing is produced, normally viewed from one side only, and begins to indicate the essential information required to produce a product of a reasonable likeness with fairly accurate size and proportion.
Child begins to plan products using more than one view and often indicates the order of making.
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© NAAIDT September 1999
