With math scores stagnating in the United States and achievement gaps widening between demographic groups, improving student outcomes is imperative. Previous studies have shown that using visual representations to teach math concepts has been shown to be an effective component of equitable elementary math teaching. This action research study contributes to the literature by exploring the impacts when the action researcher presented math lessons using a still or static drawing, versus a live or dynamic drawing to present math lessons, through the use of personal I stories. During seven lessons documented by the action researcher, students created their own conceptual drawings, wrote about, and orally described their thinking. After the instruction had concluded, students were interviewed for their perceptions of the role drawing played in their learning. Student pre and poststudy data were analyzed inductively. The action research process revealed the importance of teacher response and student engagement when exploring ideas as a group. In exploring student work, the most significant finding was that when disaggregated by pre-study assessment data, all students benefitted from opportunities to show their thinking in multiple ways. Using I stories allowed students to access their own personal experiences and generate ideas. Students' drawing showed benefits in clarity, cognitive processing, mnemonic support, and idea generation. In addition, students' drawings and interviews showed stronger conceptual connections from the dynamic drawing overall. Lastly, even though this study did not focus on procedural math, the students overall increased their computational multiplication skill by 18.57% in a three-week period. Longitudinal studies in future research would be helpful to consider how building conceptual understanding through consistent use of learner-generated drawing may impact student outcomes. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://bibliotheek.ehb.be:2222/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]