Visual Literacy, again compares all forms of literacy, verbal, written and visual. I thought it was interesting the comparison of verbal literacy and our initial incorrect organization of sounds in a group conversation. Students may do this too as they consider ideas for a work of art and then reconsider other options as they think aloud or listen to their peers. Students "separate" out the elements of the art work just as a conversation is being broken down by the listener. The artwork is broken into manageable and understandable portions. The article also points to the idea that reading images allows for more than one answer. VTS allows students to be "correct" with the ideas they bring to the image. Even though viewers typically come to a consensus about what they are viewing, there is still room for variations. The article shares that reading images can be learned and VTS/Houssen also support this idea. Most of what we "know about the world has been learned through visual images with out the benefit of formal instruction". All kindergarten students are prepared to view the first VTS image in my room no matter how well they may read.
*I am curious as the article comes to a close and talks of written language receding, the thoughts of the author in the age of Facebook and Texting. So much is written but so much is visual.
***Image selection. As I approach such a big topic, Empathy, with 5 and 6 year olds, I wanted to break down the images by ways in which
*students could "read" empathy within an image.
*Students could identify emotions on the face of a person or animal
*Students could see connections between people
Art Production:
Students are very familiar with self-portraits at this point of kindergarten art. Students will be creating a friend portrait. After reviewing how we can tell people are friends (friends might hold hands, smile at one another, make eye contact or look at one another, etc., students will create a guided drawing of friends in pencil outlined with black crayon and a watercolor wash in the negative space.
Technology has really thrown us a curve, it seems. People are more "connected" now than ever, and yet they aren't - just look at the number of people who are sharing meal at a restaurant, and yet not talking to one another because they are texting someone else! Also, you'd think email and texting would make written language really important, and yet people don't want to read; they want a picture or image to tell the story.
ReplyDeleteLove the art production activity you've described above. (I miss the elementary art room! Hope to be back in one next year!!)