Visual literacy is comprehension and communication through a visual/ graphic means. Pictures and graphics can, at times, be extremely arbitrary. A picture can communicate so many different things, which is why, when paired with writing, visual literacy can be so powerful. Pictures allow for interpretation, creativity, and ideas that text might not be able to express with the same ferocity. Visual literacies are extremely important in comprehension tasks for young students who are acquiring basic reading skills. Often young readers use context clues, such as pictures, to determine the meaning of words that still have not been learned.
Visual literacies can be extremely important for students will learning, social, or cognitive disabilities. Aspects of literacy such as Picture Supported Reading, which places visual representations above words for students with reading difficulties, or picture exchange communication systems, can be extremely helpful in communication for children with social differences or ESL students.
In children's literature, particularly picture books, readers can learn a lot about the a book that the text does not explicitly tell through pictures. Picture books are a really interesting and specific genre of storytelling because so much really depends on the visual aspect of the book.
Some of the web resources I have found include:
- http://k-8visual.info/ - collection of e-books and resources for using visual literacy in the classroom
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