Modeling without Invitation

In the video clip, "Twos Paint with Water" in the Learning Moments CD, Art as Literacy, we see Diane, a teacher, using an indirect method of modeling painting with water without an explicit invitation or without framing this as: "I want you to do what I am doing."

"She shows that she trusts the children to let her know naturally what they read and what they do not read when looking at her actions.  They might read the energy of her mark making and apply that energy to rapid stirring of the water.  They might read the growing wetness of Diane’s paper and attempt to cover their paper with water rather than make a defined line.  They might read Diane’s distinct mark and take care to create a defined water line with a controlled stroke.  Diane understands that what her actions cause a child to do can be treated as the child’s interpretation, a reading that tells her a great deal about how the children think and what aspects of the world are most salient to them at this time."

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