Writing a text of any kind requires significant cognitive work, involving memory, hand-eye coordination, strength, concentration, executive functioning, planning— and the list goes on because I haven’t even gotten into imagination, comprehension, and information integration. The PWIM has allowed me to isolate single or targeted skills, providing opportunities for intentional practice. I can select pictures that are of interest to specific students, challenge them to practice letters and sounds, to verbalize and draft simple sentences, or to describe a situation. That way when students are writing their own pieces, the cognitive load may be taken up less by these practiced skills, allowing for more intellectual energy on other competing and important challenges within their writing process.