Visual Literacy Across the Disciplines
This microcredential represents effective instruction in visual literacy across all disciplines and subject areas. Teaching students to read visual texts is just as important as teaching them how to read print texts. Content areas are filled with visuals—maps, graphs, photographs, artwork, tables, etc. Teachers are responsible to support students in learning how to approach the visual texts which are essential to the disciplines they teach.
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Utah Effective Teaching Standards > Standard 2: Instructional Design Clarity
Element 1: Content - Demonstrating a comprehensive understanding of Utah Core Standards, communicating relevance of content, communicating clear pathways to student mastery and designing learning experiences aligned to clear learning intentions and success criteria. -
Utah Effective Teaching Standards > Standard 2: Instructional Design Clarity
Element 2: Learning Progression - Demonstrating a comprehensive understanding of where students have been, where they are now and where they are going using strategically sequenced learning experiences aligned within and across grade levels.
To earn this 0.5 USBE credit microcredential you will submit two evidence items to demonstrate your implementation of visual literacy instruction. You will also submit a reflection. Click the Earn This Microcredential button for more information.
Visual literacy isn't just a description of the obvious noticed in an image. It isn't merely venturing a personal opinion about the image without evidential support. It is not journal writing about feelings inspired by an image, or simply talking to a neighbor about an image.
Visual literacy is the ability to observe, interpret, and make meaning from information presented in the form of an image. It is based on the idea that pictures can be "read," and that meaning can be determined and curriculum can be enhanced through a process of that reading.
Observe and Identify Information:Effective educators instruct students to conduct an overview of the visual, identifying the image and studying key components, details, and text. Possible questions for teachers to use with students include: • What type of image is this? • Describe how the visual presents information. • What do you notice? • What do you see that makes you say that? • Look again. What more can you find? • What are you wondering about? • What techniques are used to create the image? • How is the image composed?
Interpret the Information:Effective educators instruct students to think critically about the image. Teachers may have students interpret individually, in small groups, or in classroom discussions. Possible questions for teachers to use with students include: • How does the text relate to the picture? • What is the purpose of this image? • What evidence can be cited to support the interpretation? • What parts do you not understand yet? • How do the different parts connect to each other and your understanding of the image as a whole?
Draw Conclusions:Effective educators instruct students to process the clues and information presented and to draw upon their own knowledge and experience to understand and/or make a judgement. Possible questions for teachers to use with students include: • What inferences can you make from this image? • What meaning does this image communicate? • What are the implications of this information? • Why does this matter?
Mr. Prime is a 3rd grade teacher at Integer Elementary. Mr. Prime's students have been learning to rename fractions. He projects an image for his students, whom he has placed in groups of four. The image shows two circles: one circle is divided into three equal parts, with one of the parts highlighted; the other circle is divided into 18 equal parts, with six parts highlighted. Both circles represent 1/3. Mr. Prime asks his students: • What do you notice? • What do you see that makes you say that? After they discuss, he asks them to discuss what else they can find: • How is the first circle like the second circle? How is the first circle different from the second circle? • What do you notice about the red section and the blue section? Mr. Prime says that one student looked at the sections and said they were equal, but another student said they weren't equal because they have a different number of sections. What do you think? After the students have had time to discuss in their groups, Mr. Prime gives each group a circle divided into six equal parts, and then instructs them to color yellow the number of pieces to make the colored section equal to the red and blue sections in the other two circles.
Category: Preparation and Planning
Select ONE of the evidence options below to demonstrate your preparation and planning for visual literacy instruction within your content or discipline.
Submit a lesson plan of your creation that includes visual literacy instruction as a part of teaching a central concept or skill in your discipline. Include the image (or link) provided to students and the questions the teacher plans to use to support student thinking. This lesson plan should include all phases of instruction, including learning standards, learning outcomes, instructional materials, instructional activities, and assessment techniques. In a separate section of the lesson plan, include citations for research supporting your instructional approach. (See the resources section for examples to cite.) Your lesson plan should demonstrate your effective and consistent instruction of visual literacy as a part of teaching your subject standards.
Submit a unit plan of your creation that includes visual literacy instruction as a part of teaching central concepts or skills. Include the images (or links) provided to support student thinking. This unit plan should include all phases of instruction, including learning standards, learning outcomes, instructional materials, instructional activities, and assessment techniques. In a separate section of the plan, include citations for research supporting your instructional approach. (See the resources section for examples to cite.) This unit plan should demonstrate your effective and consistent instruction of visual literacy as a part of teaching your subject standards.
Category: Implementation
Select ONE of the evidence options below to demonstrate your effective implementation of visual literacy instruction within your content or discipline.
Submit a 5-8 minute video of your instruction with students in a skill needed to "read" visual images in your subject area. Follow your district/charter guidelines for student privacy.Video submissions should follow all relevant LEA (district/charter) and FERPA guidelines.
Submit 2-4 samples of your students' work. These samples should demonstrate student understanding of a visual image to learn central concepts in your content standards. Possible examples of student work include written work, notes, an image, an interpretation, etc. This student work should demonstrate your effective and consistent instruction of visual literacy as a part of teaching your subject standards. Be sure to follow your district/charter guidelines for student privacy.
Review Criteria
Criterion 1: Evidence demonstrates that the teacher uses best practices to teach students the skills required to observe and identify components within visual images relevant to content area. Criterion 2: Evidence demonstrates that students learn to effectively interpret a visual image. Criterion 3: Evidence demonstrates that students learn to effectively draw conclusions about a visual image.
Describe how you use images as an instructional tool to help students learn content standards.
Identify the skills students need to "read" visual images in your content area. Explain how student analysis of the image enhances their understanding of course curriculum.
Give specific examples of visual literacy opportunities students experience in your classroom and how it helps them learn.
Review Criteria
Criterion 1: Reflection demonstrates that the teacher understands the skills required for students to "read" visuals relevant to the content area. Criterion 2: Reflection demonstrates how the teacher uses visual literacy to help students learn content.
http://www.readwritethink.org/
This website is a searchable database of literacy strategies for any educator at any grade level. ReadWriteThink is a collaboration between the International Literacy Association (ILA) and National Council of Teachers of English/Language Arts (NCTE/LA).
"Reading Visual Images." WarnerJordanEducation. (2013).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UEw3s7QnolA
This is a great 15-minute podcast, outlining what visual literacy is, and why teaching it is important. It goes on to outline step by step how to read visuals.
"Reading Visual Text."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mvEnZ-lMSDo
This eight-minute PowerPoint video walks through a lesson using visual text, giving examples of questions and ideas for students, such as colors, shapes, positions, and light.
"Common Core in Action: 10 Visual Literacy Strategies." Finley, Todd. (2014). Edutopia.
https://www.edutopia.org/blog/ccia-10-visual-literacy-strategies-todd-finley
This is a helpful article full of simple strategies that are effective in teaching students to interpret images.
"Visual Literacy: Using Images to Increase Comprehension." Carry, Diana.
https://readingrecovery.org/images/pdfs/Conferences/NC09/Handouts/Carry_Visual_Literacy.pdf
This PowerPoint uses elementary school examples to show how visual images can help students learn, but the concepts readily transfer to secondary schools as well.
"Diagrams, Timelines, and Tables." Roberts, K., Norman, R., et. al. Reading Rockets. (2013).
http://www.readingrockets.org/article/diagrams-timelines-and-tables
While this article is written for elementary school teachers, the concepts and ideas work well for secondary students also.
"The Value of Visual Literacy." Kruse, Melissa. Reading & Writing Haven. (2017)
http://www.readingandwritinghaven.com/teach-students-read-visual-texts/
This article addresses strategies to show students what to do before, during, and after reading a visual text.
Website, Utah Museum of Fine Arts, University of Utah
https://umfa.utah.edu/lessons
This is a website containing lesson plans, which include images of art. A teacher could use the image without using the lesson plan, but could also gain insight into "reading" visual images from the lesson plans provided.
Picturing Texts. Faigley, L.; George, D.; Palchik, A.; and Selfe, C. (2004). New York: Norton & Co.
This book tackles the tasks of both analyzing and composing visuals in a way applicable to classrooms. It combines 40 readings and more than 200 images with instruction on how to think rhetorically about both words and images.
Basic vocabulary of Visual Literacy
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m9hszmzo77Y
This is a useful video for quickly teaching some of the basic vocabulary of visual literacy.
Utah Core Standards for Literacy
https://www.schools.utah.gov/file/003aa7e6-c4f6-40b5-89a9-40f8198e8c45
The Utah Core Standards for grades 6-12 include standards for literacy in every content area. They are on pages 69-81 of the linked document.
Jordan Cimenski
Olivia Ziering
250 East 500 South
Salt Lake City, UT 84111-3204
Phone: 801.538.7807