Framed in theories of multimodality and picture books, this interpretivist research examined teachers' use of visual literacy elements during one school year as they taught language arts and social studies in their upper elementary grade classrooms. The data, which included field notes, interviews, observations, classroom artifacts, and…

The ancient Silk Routes connecting China to Europe across the rugged mountains and deserts of central Asia are one of the primary examples of transculturation in world history. Traders on these routes dealt not only in goods such as silk and horses but also made possible the spread of art forms as well as two major religions, Buddhism and Islam. …

An effective and easily overlooked resource for conducting visual literacy activities at the elementary secondary level is the picture book collection found in most elementary school libraries. In these times of inflated prices and budget reductions, K-12 librarians and teachers should not fail to make use of these materials. There are a variety…

This paper will explore aspects of past practice and belief and how relevant these are to the future. New Zealand Curriculum guidelines for English will be examined in relation to best practice. Oral and visual texts will be discussed, as will the blurring of the boundaries between written and visual text with examples from picture books and…

A study on visual literacy in children explored such questions as: (1) how a visual literacy curriculum might be structured; and (2) whether, when students participate in a visual literacy program, they consequently say or write more, and whether what they have to say is more insightful. During the experiences, children talked and wrote about…

Educators should be encouraged to develop elementary school students' knowledge, understanding, and appreciation of the visual arts in an integrated approach to curriculum development in the schools. Instruction in the visual arts is frequently presented in isolation from other subjects, but resources are available to support reinforcement in…

The basic understandings that could be used to develop a foundation for holistic literacy are discussed. One way to establish this foundation for primary students is by developing understandings of science process skills using the elements and vocabulary of visual literacy. By providing opportunities to integrate oral and visual skills and…

This paper examines children's responses to black and white illustrations in particular silhouettes. The study had two components; the first examined fifth graders' reactions to picture books using silhouette illustrations. The second part of the research analyzed students' responses when a dramatic context was used to view and respond to selected…

This report establishes a foundation of information about how children in classroom settings develop visual literacy. Data was gathered during five 45-minute sessions with a second and a fourth grade classroom during which children looked at pictures in four versions of the Noah's Ark tale. The intent was to elicit whatever children chose to say…

Visual literacy--seeing with insight--enables child viewers of pictures to examine elements such as color, line, shape, form, depth, and detail to see what relations exist both among these components and between what is in the picture and their previous visual experience. The viewer can extract meaning and respond to it, either by talking or…