Discussion for Assignment #5

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Discussion for Assignment #5

Jaclyn Snell
1) What speaks to you?
-Visual literacy is the ability to find meaning in imagery. When the article and videos discussed the different aspects of cognition that VLT calls upon, such as questioning, analyzing, categorizing, etc. it reminded me of a program we use with our elementary students called "Notice & Note." The program is based off of different "sign-posts" that students should notice while they read in order to aid in comprehension. Sign-posts include things like contrasts and contradictions, items that pop up again and again, absolute language- all of which are things that can be noticed through imagery as well. I think it's also important to notice the different degrees of Visual literacy and take those into account when working with children. The article discussed how young child can name what they see, make observations, etc. but the more exposure they have and the more background experience, the more they're able to draw meaning from imagery, analyze, and evaluate.

2) Any ideas?
-"There are degrees of visual literacy, however. For example, a young person can construct
meaning from both simple (e.g., comics) and complex (e.g., art objects) visual materials." The above quote from the article sparked a memory from high school for me. I remember for an economics class doing a project where we had to collect different comics from newspapers and analyze their meaning. We then had to create our own comic based off of a current event and share it with the class. I think this activity is something that could be modified to do with young elementary students that would bring in those different aspects of cognition discussed earlier, such as questioning, wondering, analyzing, etc.

3) How do I integrate art in our curriculum?
-I am a 4th grade teacher now and we have made a conscious effort this year to allow students more choice in their assessments and we try to encourage creative ways for students to demonstrate their mastery of a skill. We've utilized different creative apps and students have enjoyed the ability to create piccollages, infographics, posters, and diagrams to showcase their learning. In addition, visual literacy comes into play a lot with our language arts standards. When studying concepts like perspective, theme, bias, and author's message- pictures and graphics are a great way to engage students and spark discussion.

4) Other reactions?
-The article "Thoughts on Visual Literacy" states,  "we see that beginning viewers apply what they have learned from constant exposure to television, newspapers, magazines and books to art, but this preparation
only allows them to deal easily with images that follow well-known conventions." I think it's also important that we take into account the diversity of students and recognize that their background experience plays a huge role in their ability to find meaning in imagery. I've enjoyed bringing art into the classroom when focusing on perspective because students may have very different interpretations depending on their background knowledge and schema.