In a world that is becoming increasingly visual, this book equips teachers with innovative strategies to engage students with visual media. Today's students need to know how to "read" visuals closely to understand their meaning, the messages they are sending, and be able to discuss them with others using appropriate vocabulary. Teachers will help students comprehend visuals such as images, charts, graphics, and multimedia texts across the content areas. With tools and techniques, sample lessons, and suggested visuals to use in the classroom, this professional development resource by Marva Cappello and Nancy T. Walker provides strategies for both receptive and productive purposes of visual literacy and is organized by content area to support all teachers. These approaches focus on valuing evidence in visual texts and develop all literacy skills to engage students in building 21st century skills and higher-order thinking.

A collection of nine essays that describes strategies for teaching visual literacy by using graphic novels, comics, anime, political cartoons, and picture books.

The untold story of the root cause of America's education crisis--and the seemingly endless cycle of multigenerational poverty. It was only after years within the education reform movement that Natalie Wexler stumbled across a hidden explanation for our country's frustrating lack of progress when it comes to providing every child with a quality education. The problem wasn't one of the usual scapegoats: lazy teachers, shoddy facilities, lack of accountability. It was something no one was talking about: the elementary school curriculum's intense focus on decontextualized reading comprehension "skills" at the expense of actual knowledge. In the tradition of Dale Russakoff's The Prize and Dana Goldstein's The Teacher Wars, Wexler brings together history, research, and compelling characters to pull back the curtain on this fundamental flaw in our education system--one that fellow reformers, journalists, and policymakers have long overlooked, and of which the general public, including many parents, remains unaware. But The Knowledge Gap isn't just a story of what schools have gotten so wrong--it also follows innovative educators who are in the process of shedding their deeply ingrained habits, and describes the rewards that have come along: students who are not only excited to learn but are also acquiring the knowledge and vocabulary that will enable them to succeed. If we truly want to fix our education system and unlock the potential of our neediest children, we have no choice but to pay attention.

Teaching Visual Literacy in the Primary Classroom shows how everyday literacy sessions can be made more exciting, dynamic and effective by using a wide range of media and visual texts in the primary classroom. In addition to a wealth of practical teaching ideas, the book outlines the vital importance of visual texts and shows how children can enjoy developing essential literacy skills through studying picture books, film, television and comic books. Designed to take into account the renewed Framework for Literacy, each chapter offers a complete guide to teaching this required area of literacy. Aimed at those who want to deliver high quality and stimulating literacy sessions, each chapter contains a range of detailed practical activities and resources which can be easily implemented into existing literacy teaching with minimal preparation. In addition, each chapter gives clear, informative yet accessible insights into the theory behind visual literacy. Containing a wealth of activities, ideas and resources for teachers of both Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2, this book discusses how children's literacy skills can be developed and enhanced through exploring a range of innovative texts. Six chapters provide comprehensive guides to the teaching of the following media and literacy skills: picture books film and television comic books visual literacy skills genre adaptation. Teaching Visual Literacy in the Primary Classroom is an essential resource for all those who wish to find fresh and contemporary ways to teach literacy and will be useful not only to novices but also to teachers who already have experience of teaching a range of media. Students, primary school teachers, literacy co-ordinators and anyone who is passionate about giving pupils a relevant and up-to-date education will be provided with everything they need to know about teaching this new and ever-expanding area of literacy.

Visual Literacy examines how teachers can use visuals to improve learning for all students. It provides teachers with a foundation in visual literacy, defined as the ability to read, think, and communicate with visually presented information. Results of studies of students’ using visual information indicate that most students are clearly lacking in the tools needed to use visuals effectively. The book orients teachers to visual literacy and the world of visuals. It discusses various classroom tested strategies and activities for all students, including second language learners, and students with special needs. Stressing visual literacy skills helps students understand a visual more deeply so they can master the content they are learning. Teachers will learn to employ a literacy triad of reading, thinking, and communicating to aid students in their study of visuals. First, they inquire into the visual, reading it for content and context, including assessing the authenticity of the document. Second, they think about the document by analyzing, interpreting, and evaluating it to come up with answers to their inquiry. Graphic organizers help students decipher the content and understand the meaning of the visual document, connecting it to prior and future instruction. Third, they communicate their findings using visuals.

"Much of the research in the area of memory and lifelong learning supports the rationale that we learn quickly and deeply through images. Part of our work in higher education is helping students learn to interpret and create the visual images they will encounter during and after their college or university experience. This volume is focused on teaching and learning with visuals and provides innovative examples of teaching with images in both disciplinary and interdisciplinary contexts"--Page four of cover.

Designed to introduce visual literacy to instructional librarians, this book shows librarians how to make visual literacy relevant and engaging by framing it as a digital skill. Millions of images are uploaded to social media every day, and students are increasingly being asked to participate in such image-rich research projects as websites and blogs. Image manipulation and photo editing are commonplace, but the visual literacy skills needed to detect that kind of misinformation aren't. Students need help learning how to find, evaluate, and use images in an ethical and effective manner. Digital Visual Literacy is designed to introduce visual literacy to instructional librarians. This concise introduction teaches visual literacy as a digital skill, complete with digital humanities-based workshops and assignments to make instruction informative and engaging. It covers all aspects of visual literacy, from copyright to image evaluation. Each chapter clearly explains visual literacy standards and proficiencies and offers practical instructional assignments, in-class demonstrations, and more through the use of digital humanities tools.