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International Reading AssociationChicago, ILMay 2, 2012

The Power of Visual Learning and Storytelling: Helping young children develop social, emotional, health and safety, and cognitive skills through visual models and within recognizable contexts

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Stuart J. MurphyVisual Learning Author and ConsultantBoston, MA

§ MathStartHarperCollins Children’s Books

§ I SEE I LEARNCharlesbridge Publishing

Pearson Education:§ enVisionMATH§ Prentice Hall High School Mathematics§ digits

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Kristin Ziemke FastabendTeacher, Burley Elementary SchoolChicago, IL

§ Consultant for Stephanie Harvey Consulting§ Contributor to the blog Inquiry Live in the Classroom§ National Board Certified Teacher§ Golden Apple Teaching Fellow§ Kohl McCormick Early Childhood Teaching Award§ Earthwatch Institute Fellow

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What Is Visual Learning?

Visual learning is about acquiring and communicating information through illustrations, photos, diagrams, graphs, symbols, icons, and other visual representations. It is about making sense of complex information using visual models.

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Visual Literacy in Classrooms

Supports comprehension when reading informational text. We must teach kids the nonfiction text and visual features that signal importance and scaffold understanding for young children. (Harvey & Goudvis, 2008)

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Visual Literacy in Classrooms

Visual learning engages kids in multimodal experiences that increase their ability to acquire and use information.

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Visual Learning

Visual features provide an entry point for all developing readers regardless of their ability to decode text.

Young children can read photos, graphs and maps to gain information.

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Why is it Important?

We must teach the way students learn.

Pedro Noguera. Opening Session Address, NCTM National Meeting, Washington, DC, 2009.

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Why is it Important?

Visual Learning approaches involve visualization, color cues, picture metaphors, concept maps, sketches, diagrams, and graphic symbols. Thomas Armstrong. Multiple Intelligences in the Classroom, 1994.

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What Einstein was able to do was to think visually.

Walter Isaacson, Einstein: His Life and Universe, 2007.

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What is contextual learning?

Contextual learning is about presenting concepts within settings that are relevant to the lives of children. It involves the application of knowledge to real life situations. It’s about making learning relevant and engaging.

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In classrooms

When we teach concepts intentionally within the school setting, we invite children to use these skills in the safe context of the classroom, then scaffold their development to attempt these skills at home and in the larger community.

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Percy dug with his hands.

As they piled the sand up

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Camille patted it down.

work together

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cooperatemake a plan

share the funwork together

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Small group lesson with Camille’s Team

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Build a classroom that honors whole child development

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Explicit instruction in the skills we want children to employ.

CollaborationConflict resolutionPeaceful languageReflectionSelf regulationAgency

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In our classroom

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“Studies have shown that students have the capacity to internalize and find relevancy in what they draw, and they easily make connections to other areas of learning through their image-making.”

Davis, Jessica Hoffmann. Framing Education as Art: The Octopus Has a Good Day. Teachers College Press, 2005.

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“This realization, and its popular acceptance within education communities, initiated the development of new approaches to classroom practice. Regarding visual learning, these approaches involve visualization, color cues, picture metaphors, concept maps, sketches, diagrams, and graphic symbols.” Armstrong, Thomas. Multiple Intelligences in the Classroom. Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD), 1994.

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“One of the key things about language is that images come bubbling up inside of it.” “So it isn’t that words and images are opposed. Rather they are part of the same system of communication.” Elkins, James. Visual Literacy. Routledge, 2007.

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Students draw and write in response to a read aloud

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Mentor Text:After investigating how facial expressions convey emotion, a child attempts to do the same with his illustration.

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“Self-regulation is a life skill that traverses all the developmental domains, promoting social relationships, self-control, a positive work ethic, and systematic problem-solving abilities.”

Teaching and Learning in Preschool, by Elizabeth Claire Venn and Monica Dacy Jahn, International Reading Association, 2004, ISBN 0-87207-535-4

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Self-confidence:

“A can-do attitude that is cultivated and nurtured during their early childhood years pays high dividends later as they become productive confident adults.”

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Early childhood educators must “work to increase the number of positive reinforcement statements that children hear every day in our classrooms.”

Teaching and Learning in Preschool, Venn and Jahn, IRA

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Modeling Behaviors Stories are important tools for teaching appropriate social interactions to children. Stories model how skills are used in real-life situations. Modeling can take place in a variety of settings and situations through dramatic play, role-playing and puppet shows.

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Percy Gets Upset

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Using words to describe feelings

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How can we feel better?

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Putting ourselves in the text

“What do you do if you are stuck in the problem?What if you try those tips and it doesn’t get better?”

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Emma’s Friendwich

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Emma’s Friendwich Inspires

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Skype the author

RelevancyEmpowermentSynthesis

Showing our kids that their thinking matters!

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Stuart visits Room 106

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Relevance

Connections

Confidence

Personalized learning

Audience

Purpose

Critique

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Verbal

Visual

Contextual

Comprehension

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Thank you!Stuart:www.stuartjmurphy.comstuart@stuartjmurphy.com

Kristin:kristinzf@yahoo.comliteracyspark.wordpress.com/@1stgradethinks

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