Visual Literacy & Visual Literacy Techniques A Guide for the Modern Day Teacher What is visual literacy?

A persons ability to use, create, discuss visual images to enhance higher order thinking. Visual Literacy is the recognition of the relationship between language and images. It is described as a persons skill in understanding images and the reasons for them. So if you can read a map or signs you are visual literate.

Why do we need Visual Literacy? Visual Literacy is necessary for reading, understanding and interpreting images, photographs, drawings, videos, diagrams and multimodal texts, especially in today's modern schools. Visual literacy is considered to an integral part of children's education. o Many authors are using their pictures, shapes, colours and size to evoke discussion and add meaning to their books.

Why do we need it in the Early Years? Researchers find that reading picture books to children in the early years can offer aesthetic and psychological experiences for children , especially books that are chosen according to their individual needs and ordinance with their cognitive level.

How does it link to the Curriculum? The Queensland Kindergarten Guidelines states that in the early years it is important children are effective communicators (also stated in ELYF). The Queensland Kindergarten guidelines suggest that to engage children's learning to do it through a variety of texts. In order to explore and engage with literacy in a meaningful way. The Australian Curriculum, allows for teachers to incorporate the use of visual literacy in many key curricular areas including maths, science and English.

Key Considerations In the early years of learning the use of visual literacy is used in very similar ways, it is just the content and the teachers delivery and expectations that will be different, here are some key considerations for visual literacy techniques in the Early Years: Visual literacy in the early years needs to be level appropriate. In Kindergarten and Prep it is very basic visual literacy, i.e. the recognition of the visual image and the relation to their everyday lives. In the years 1-3 visual literacy will be used in similar ways, however children will be expected to make meaning out of visual images. i.e. making meaning of graphs, tables etc. Visual literacy needs to relate to real life experiences- this is at all levels of the early years.

Visual Literacy must be engaging and simulating, this is again at all levels of the early years. Visual Literacy must cater to the diverse learners in your classroom. This may mean that for students with ESL needs or Special needs, visual literacy could be used to enhance the way they learn. Visual Literacy is not just a substitute for reading or writing, but is used in conjunction to enhance students overall literacy skills

Visual Literacy in a Kindy Setting: Techniques you may use: Pictures Videos Big Books Shared picture books Printed information Flash cards

A lesson example using visual literacy is one on social skills (linking to the communicating element of the Queensland Kindergarten learning guidelines) The teacher presents students with a series of pictures, and asks students to link these pictures to a feeling they may have ( the pictures are happy, sad, angry etc.) the students have to explain to their teacher a time they have felt like the picture, and what the picture means. The teacher can then assess students knowledge by using a series of flash cards and asking students to call out the feeling as they go through them.

Visual Literacy in a School Setting In a school setting the techniques used are similar to that used in Kindy however teachers could also use: Venn Diagrams Graphs Tables Maps

An example of a lesson a teacher could do in a school setting is: In a year one maths lesson- in the Australian Curriculum students are asked to order Australian coins, the teacher may give students two Australian coins and in pairs get them to complete a Venn Diagram of the similarities and differences of the two coins.

Useful Websites: Visual Literacy K-8 http://k-8visual.info Bright Hub Education: http://www.brighthubeducation.com/teaching-methods-tips/127771visual-literacy-lesson-plans/

Literacy Planet: http://www.literacyplanet.com/blackline-masters.html CBBCees- Online Visual Literacy Games: http://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/ks1/literacy/ Videos Visual Literacy Across the Curriculum: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XQNbAtK3c3g Visual Literacy in the Classroom: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3F6hGeoCPMk References: Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA). (2010). Foundation to Year 10 Australian Curriculum: Student Diversity. Retrieved from www.acar.com.au Bennett,R. (2006). Learning ICT with English. Great Britain: David Fulton Publishers. Bright Hub Education. (2013) The Need for Visual Literacy Instruction in K-12 Education. Retrieved from http://www.brighthubeducation.com/teaching-methods-tips/127753-theneed-for-visual-literacy-instruction-in-k-12-education/ Martin,T., Lovat, C. & Purnell.G. (2004) The Really Useful Literacy Book: Being Creative with Literacy in the Primary Classroom. Abingdon, Oxon: RoutledgeFalmer. Martinez, M., Roser, N. & Dooley, C. (2003). Young Childrens Literacy Meaning Making. London: Sage Publications Limited. Riddle,J. (2009). Engaging the Eye Generation: Visual LiteracyStrategies for the K-5 Classroom. Maine, Portland: Stenhouse Publishers. Visual Literacy. (2013) Visual Literacy K-8. Retrieved from: http://k-8visual.info Winch, G., Jonhston, R.R., March, P., Ljungdahl, L. & Holliday, M. (2010). Literacy: Reading, writing and childrens literature. South Melbourne, Victoria: Oxford University Press