Katie Malone Portfolio 3

Cognitive Development I chose to observe my two daughters for this observation. They are !"# and $

years old. They are !$ months apart in age% but the way that they deal with their feelings is completely different. I wanted to watch two different things. &irst% I wanted to see how they would deal with or without instruction on ma'ing drawings. Then I wanted to see if the pictures would resemble each other or not. (e did three different )tests.* The first% I let them each free draw their favorite animal. They had a ma+imum of !, minutes. The second )test* that we did was for me to read them instructions% and they were to follow the instructions. The third and final drawing )test* was to loo' at their drawing boo'% and follow the instructions themselves. This last test was the only time that they were able to loo' at another drawing. The first two% I had separated the girls. The first e+periment of letting the girl-s free draw went very well. I let them draw for a total of !, minutes. My oldest drew for !. minutes and was finished. /he drew a horse with a great deal of detail. (hile she was drawing% she noticed that the design that she made on the face made the horse loo' li'e a race horse. /o% she drew a saddle on the horse% and made the design on the face a different color. /he told me that the horses name was 0ightning because it runs faster than lightning. My younger daughter decided to draw a butterfly. /he put a great deal of detail into it as well. 1er drawing too' her about !3 minutes. /he wanted to color each and every s2uare inch of the butterfly. /he added stripes% pol'a dots% and two rainbows% because she )wanted to* she said. /he did 34T want to draw a face on the butterfly. I as'ed her about it%

and she said )I didn-t want a face because I always draw faces and I-m tired of them.* I figured that was 5ust fine. 6oth of the girls had great attitudes during the free draw time. I put up a divider as well% so that they could not see each other-s wor'. The second )test* that we did was a verbal draw. I read instructions from a boo'% and the girls had to listen to those instructions% follow one by one% and draw 78ibson% #...% p. !.9!!:. ;gain% they could not see their sister-s picture. They both had great attitudes for this )test* as well. They listened% and drew great bunny rabbits. They didn-t 'now what I was having them draw% but they figured it out after I told them to draw in the middle of the page% a circle for the head% and on top of the head% draw two long ears. They both figured out what they were going to be drawing. 4nce they had figured it out% they put their own spin on it. <lly% my oldest% gave her bunny one tall ear% and one bent ear. My youngest gave hers a big fluffy tail. It was fun to see them put themselves into the process. 4ur third )test* was the hardest. I wanted them to loo' at the )I Can Draw* boo'% at the picture that I choose% sit ne+t to each other% and not have a divider 78ibson% #...% p.##9#3:. This )test* caused the most havoc. My oldest did a great 5ob% but it loo'ed 5ust li'e the boo's. /he used a bit of her own imagination% but it was trying to be a copy from the page. My youngest was trying to get hers to loo' li'e the boo'% but she drew a circle too large. /he was not pleased with that at all. I made her finish the picture% but she didn-t li'e it% and wanted to start over. They both ended up loo'ing li'e frogs. They each had their own personality% but they were trying so hard to get them to loo' the same% that they% at some point% stopped using their imagination% and started copying from the boo'% or trying to measure up to the other sister.

These )tests* conducted a number of observations. I saw that first my 'ids are very good at drawing. Their abilities match their age group. They are very good listeners when it comes to step by step directions% and they can read and follow instructions as well. I saw that they got a bit more frustrated when they felt that they had to strive to be at the same level as the ne+t. They both wor'ed very hard% and were able ma'e great pictures.

Drawing Tests !. Free Draw: The girls were divided by a divider. Then they were told to draw for !, minutes. They were given a blan' piece of paper and told to draw an animal. It could be their favorite animal or not% they 5ust had to do their best 5ob. <lly= $yrs. old. Drew a horse with spots. /he made it into a racing horse named 0ightning. <mmy= !"#yrs. old. Drew a butterfly with pol'a9dots% rainbows% and stripes.

#. Verbal Draw: The girls were divided by a divider. Then they were given a blan' sheet of paper. I told them to turn it vertical. I did not tell them what they were going to be drawing. Then I gave them step by step directions on how to draw a rabbit 78ibson% #...% p. !.9!!:. <ach of the girls drew a rabbit% and followed the directions. 4nce they figured out what the picture was going to be% they began to as' 2uestions about adding more detail. 7ie. 6ent ears and a big or tiny fluffy tail.: <lly= $yrs. old. &ollowed directions% but when she reali>ed that it was a rabbit% she wanted to ma'e it have one bent ear and one straight ear. <mmy= !"#yrs. old. &ollowed directions. /he couldn-t figure out where to put the tail% and when she did% she wanted it to be li'e the boo's% but I wouldn-t let her see the boo's. /he used her imagination% and made it on her own.

3. Children reading their own instructions: The children were placed ne+t to each other with no divider. They were given an )I Can Draw* boo' opened to a specific page 78ibson% #...% p. ##9#3:. They were told to follow the directions and draw the picture that the boo' was describing. <lly= $yrs. old. /he followed the instructions very well. 1er frog loo'ed very much li'e the frog on the page. /he did a great 5ob% but lac'ed in her own personality because she wanted it to loo' 5ust li'e the frog in the boo'. <mmy= !"#yrs. old. /he began following the boo'% but when her first circle was larger than the boo's% it threw her for a loop. /he became very frustrated because hers didn-t loo' li'e her sisters or the boo's. /he gave up for a brief time% and I had to e+plain that not all frogs loo' ali'e. /he finished it% but was not happy about it.

?eferences 8ibson% ?. 7#...:. I can draw animals 7;. 6arlow% Illustrator:. 3ew @or'% 3@= /cholastic.