New Literacy Project Noteblog: Visual Literacy

1) YOUR CONCEPTUAL UNDERSTANDING:

Before doing this project my definition of literacy was very limited, so my understanding of what literacy is has changed dramatically.  From our own schooling experience many of us learned that literacy was about reading and writing.  But, from researching and learning about Visual Literacy, as well as what I learned from looking through other projects in the class, I am more aware of the limited nature of defining literacy in that way.  In broad terms, I think literacy is more about communicating than anything.  Whether that means communicating through images, such as with visual literacy, or communicating through knowledge of another’s culture, such as with cultural literacy, it all involves an exchange of information from point A to point B.  Of course, part of that exchange involves using a medium to do so, and that is where technology comes in to play.  Admittedly, I have never been great with technology, so using it in the classroom has always been an area of discomfort for me.  However, after reading about digital technology and understanding the importance to supporting digital learners, I can see how imperative it is for our new generations to be exposed to this type of learning in the classroom.  Through this project, I was able to see how I can not only expand on what literacy is, but also how it can be taught in the classroom using digital mediums.  Many of the projects I looked at involved technology that was relatively user friendly, making it much less intimidating for me to include them in my everyday teaching.  Also, these projects gave me insight as to how new literacies AND digital literacy can be taught simultaneously through one lesson by using a form of technology that supports both.  For example, my project involved teaching others about visual literacy, while also using a technology (Mindomo) that acts as an example of visual literacy itself, but also involves using technology in the classroom.

2) EFFECTIVE LITERACY INSTRUCTION:

After doing this project, I feel that providing effective literacy instruction to diverse learners involves teaching them about all the new literacies we have explored, as well as using technology as a means to differentiate instruction to fit learner needs.  Earlier in this semester when I constructed the concept map for effective literacy instruction I had three main components: reading, writing, and sharing.  Looking back, I can see how limited this definition is in that is encompasses an outdated way of thinking about literacy instruction.  I think I often forget how much technology influences 21^st century learners since I did not see a lot of technology used in my own schooling so I tend to forget how useful it can be in a diverse classroom setting.  The abundance of free, digital tools available to me as a teacher now are an excellent way to support multiple learning types, so I now understand the importance of using them in the classroom.  Truthfully, before doing this project I had never heard of any of the new literacies we have explored, which is probably why my definition of literacy teaching was so limited.  If I had not had this exposure I can’t help but wonder how my own student’s learning would have been negatively affected.  Would they grow up thinking that literacy only involved reading and writing?  As I explored visual literacy for my own project, I started to see how important it is for 21^st century learners (especially) to know how to interpret and communicate through these visual mediums of exchange.  Visual literacy is a huge part of every life in and outside of school, so it is important that student’s are exposed to this type of literacy learning in the classroom.

In thinking about the Kindergarteners in my own field placement, I think they could definitely handle learning about visual literacy, as well as digital literacy, despite their young age.  However, reading and writing is a major component of Kindergarten learning, so they would need to be explicitly taught about and exposed to this new literacy in order to understand that it exists.  As I mentioned in my project, in the early stages of visual literacy learning, students focus on images such as pictures, works of art, or photographs and comment about what they see.  Kindergarteners spend hours each day looking through picture books to create stories in their mind as part of the first steps to learning to read.  This is a perfect way to incorporate visual literacy into everyday learning.  If students are simply given the opportunity to talk about the pictures they see, they are already on their way to becoming visually literate.  However, based on what I know about my students I think they would need a lesson on how to talk about pictures in a way that supports visual literacy.  Visual literacy involves more than just pointing to a dog on the page, or identifying a color they see.  They would need to be taught how a certain color might add to or change the mood in the story.  Or maybe what it means to see a text get REALLY BIG on one page, and really small on another.  These are fairly simple ideas that I feel the Kindergarteners I work with could easily understand and have a fun time exploring.  I also think the students could benefit from learning about visual literacy through the use of a concept map (Mindomo) if the teacher provided it.  I think Mindomo is a little complex for student’s this young because it does involve a lot of typing and spelling, which is still being, developed for many of the students in my placement.  However, concept maps are an important part of learning in later grades, so I think it would be helpful for them to get exposure to them early on.

3) LESSON PLAN: 

Target Area and Rationale: Visual Literacy is appropriate for Kindergarteners because they are naturally very visual learners as they explore their environment and make meaning of what they see around them.  Using a digital concept or mind map to learn and teach others about Visual Literacy, not only serves as an example of visual learning in itself, but also exposes students to concepts maps at an early age, which is a popular means of instruction and learning in all subject matters in later grades.

Objective(s)

1.   Students will look at an illustration in a picture book and be able to talk about the visual components that give meaning to the picture such colors used, size of objects, facial expressions of characters, or mood.

2.   Students will create a digital mind map to share their ideas with the class.

Materials and Supplies:

-Mindomo mind map (created by teacher) that encompasses the main ideas of Visual Literacy

-Picture books for students to choose from as the basis of their project

-Computers

-Projector screen to present information to students and for students to present their own projects

-Concept Map worksheet (practice using concept maps)

-Whiteboard

Outline of key events: This lesson will take place over the course of many days.

-Present visual literacy to students using Mindomo.  Talk about what it is and give examples that students can understand.  Each branch of the mind map should support this information in a way that’s easy to understand.

-On projector screen, show an illustration from a picture book the students are familiar with.  Talk about the visual elements of that picture together as a class.  On the white, create a mind map for the students that include the ideas you have discussed.  Allow children to explore what they see and share all their ideas.

-Talk about the mind map on Mindomo, and well as the mind map you drew on the board.  Ask the following questions to foster a discussion…

         -Have you seen maps like this before?

         -Do you like these maps?

         -How can these maps be helpful to us?

-Are the two maps, the map on the computer and the map on the board, the same?  How?

-Talk about how to make a mind map and that is can be used for many different things.  Give students a chance to make a mind map by passing out the Concept Map worksheet (this will have a circle in the center for the main idea with branches coming out).  Allow students to make a mind map about themselves so they get practice making one.  Tell them they are draw pictures, or write words to describe themselves.

-Discuss how the paper mind maps and the digital mind maps are the same.  Tell them they are going to make their own digital mind maps like the one on the projector.

-Explain the directions.  Tell them they are going to choose an illustration from any picture book they want, it can be from home or from school.  They will make a digital mind map talking about the picture just like we did together.  Remind them of the visual elements discussed earlier as a class, and write a list (or mind map) for the students to refer to (post this in the front of the class).

-On a different day, teach kids about Mindomo.  Give simple directions for how to add information/pictures using the tab and enter key.  Talk about key terms that could be used (support for spelling as well).  Make a mind map together as a class.  Use an illustration as another example for how to use visual literacy.

-Students will have 30 minutes of computer time each day to work on their projects.  Only one have of the class will go at a time so that the aids can give support where needed.

-Present maps to class on overhead projector

Closing Summary: Revisit discussion about visual literacy.  Talk about what it is or add to the concept map/list you created as a class earlier.  Discuss how the Mindomo helped learn about visual literacy.  Talk about how visual literacy can be used outside of school as well.  Ask students for examples.

Ongoing assessment:  Bring visual literacy into story time each day.  When reading a picture book, choose one illustration to focus on and allow students to take some time to talk about elements of the picture.  Call on students to share their ideas, or ask them to make a concept map of their own.