A study was conducted to examine the interrelationships between drawing, early writing, and the context of talk in which both phenomena occur. Participant observation methodology was used in a self-contained public school kindergarten in order to gather daily data during a 3-month period. Specifically, children freely drew and wrote in an established area, or "center," while the investigator observed and interacted with them to gain insight into their perceptions about these actions. Data collected consisted of audio recordings of the children's talk at the center, their graphic products, observational notes, and interviews with children. Patterns were identified reflecting ways the children combined the drawing and writing processes in the production of one graphic product and in the manner they used drawing and writing terminology referentially across production modes. On the basis of these patterns, inferences were made about written language development. Learning to write was portrayed as a process of gradually differentiating and consolidating the separate meanings of these two forms of graphic symbolism. (Author/MP)