Using Visual Fluency to Build Analysis Skills
Karen Ann McCay
December 20, 2018
Because digital natives engage with visual texts faster than written texts, we can often use visual texts to teach analysis skills with more efficiency (and even more proficiency) than we can with written texts (Brumberger, 2011). Furthermore, we must do so if we also want to increase students' proficiency in visual analysis, which they need for true career readiness in the 21st century. Using these time savers to introduce new skills and build a strong base of prior knowledge before reading grade-level texts ensures a higher level of success and much lower level of frustration for all students, who should not have to grapple with textual vocabulary and grade level-skills at the same time (McCarthy, 2015).
My sophomore English students recently analyzed a painting to practice identifying how authors use symbolism and structure to develop a theme in literature. They viewed Frida Kahlo’s Self Portrait on the Borderline Between Mexico and the United States (1932), available in the Wikigallery:
Karen Ann McCay
December 20, 2018
Because digital natives engage with visual texts faster than written texts, we can often use visual texts to teach analysis skills with more efficiency (and even more proficiency) than we can with written texts (Brumberger, 2011). Furthermore, we must do so if we also want to increase students' proficiency in visual analysis, which they need for true career readiness in the 21st century. Using these time savers to introduce new skills and build a strong base of prior knowledge before reading grade-level texts ensures a higher level of success and much lower level of frustration for all students, who should not have to grapple with textual vocabulary and grade level-skills at the same time (McCarthy, 2015).
My sophomore English students recently analyzed a painting to practice identifying how authors use symbolism and structure to develop a theme in literature. They viewed Frida Kahlo’s Self Portrait on the Borderline Between Mexico and the United States (1932), available in the Wikigallery:
Students worked in groups using the OPTIC strategy to analyze the canvas as text. OPTIC focuses students toward the symbolic parts of a visual text and how they are structured to develop meaning (Scott, 2017), so it provided the graphic organizer and guidance some students need for success when first practicing these new skills together.
Kahlo’s work lends itself to analysis because of its availability, because of her intriguing personal narrative which students find engaging, and also because of the juxtaposition of the symbolism between the two worlds on her canvas, which helps students comprehend structure as a literary device. When students see Kahlo using the structure so well on her canvas, they are able to transfer their comprehension to written texts where so many authors also juxtapose concepts with intent (Heick, 2014). Using students’ visual fluency to transfer these visual concepts into the abstract world of language is exactly what instructors must start doing in the digital era to save time and increase proficiency among their students.
After my students grasped the concept of how Kahlo had used symbolism and structure to develop her theme, they choose to compare her text with either Pat Mora’s poem, legal Alien, or Amy Tan’s “Two Kinds.” Students wrote rough drafts using Google Docs as groups to provide further support for struggling peers for this first comparison, and I facilitated as students wrote so groups could ask me for help as needed. Using cooperative groups in the digital environment modeled 21st century collaboration and relationship-building, which students must master to be career ready.
The following rough draft demonstrates what students are capable of writing when teachers use technology to save instructional minutes. This group of young ladies grasped their concepts quickly and were not particularly challenged by the comparison of two themes. They asked for an alternative assignment and wanted to know if they could use all three texts to argue their own thesis about cultural identity in America. I asked them a few quick questions and looked over their OPTIC notes to ensure they had demonstrated proficiency of the lesson learning goals and then approved their request (Betts, 2016). Their thesis is rough, but it shows a clear understanding of synthesis among all three texts as well as concern for people living between two cultures, a very real problem for these young women. They chose a more challenging goal than the original goals for the lesson and delved deeper into their content as a result.
Kahlo’s work lends itself to analysis because of its availability, because of her intriguing personal narrative which students find engaging, and also because of the juxtaposition of the symbolism between the two worlds on her canvas, which helps students comprehend structure as a literary device. When students see Kahlo using the structure so well on her canvas, they are able to transfer their comprehension to written texts where so many authors also juxtapose concepts with intent (Heick, 2014). Using students’ visual fluency to transfer these visual concepts into the abstract world of language is exactly what instructors must start doing in the digital era to save time and increase proficiency among their students.
After my students grasped the concept of how Kahlo had used symbolism and structure to develop her theme, they choose to compare her text with either Pat Mora’s poem, legal Alien, or Amy Tan’s “Two Kinds.” Students wrote rough drafts using Google Docs as groups to provide further support for struggling peers for this first comparison, and I facilitated as students wrote so groups could ask me for help as needed. Using cooperative groups in the digital environment modeled 21st century collaboration and relationship-building, which students must master to be career ready.
The following rough draft demonstrates what students are capable of writing when teachers use technology to save instructional minutes. This group of young ladies grasped their concepts quickly and were not particularly challenged by the comparison of two themes. They asked for an alternative assignment and wanted to know if they could use all three texts to argue their own thesis about cultural identity in America. I asked them a few quick questions and looked over their OPTIC notes to ensure they had demonstrated proficiency of the lesson learning goals and then approved their request (Betts, 2016). Their thesis is rough, but it shows a clear understanding of synthesis among all three texts as well as concern for people living between two cultures, a very real problem for these young women. They chose a more challenging goal than the original goals for the lesson and delved deeper into their content as a result.
student_essay_module_6.pdf | |
File Size: | 75 kb |
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21st Century Arguments: Going Digital
December 21, 2018
When students have mastered digital analysis, they are ready to take their arguments into the digital work, too. Most students will present their future arguments visually, not textually, and they can use their visual fluency to increase their proficiency in rhetorical writing while they practice technological skills for their futures.
This student video above provides an excellent example of why we need to let learners develop their arguments in the FULLY digital realm for their future--current trends no longer call for text-based argumentation, and most fields will not require textual argumentation in the future.
When we open our classrooms to 21st century content and products, we prepare our students for their futures, which won't resemble our lives as much as we think. We will most certainly see positive increases in our students’ growth, as well. 21st century instruction often blends effective pedagogy and differentiation seamlessly while saving time with better tools. As we continue to look for ways to increase educational gains as well as creativity and critical thinking among our students, we must consider additional ways of incorporating the digital world into our pedagogical world--and why we haven’t done more innovating already.
Extra Resources:
strategies_for_using_visual_fluency_in_secondary_english_classrooms.pdf | |
File Size: | 147 kb |
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ICB Method
Using TPACK as a Planning Tool
Solution Fluency Page
Or Back to:
21st Century Skills
Relationship Teaching Home Page
Using TPACK as a Planning Tool
Solution Fluency Page
Or Back to:
21st Century Skills
Relationship Teaching Home Page
References
Betts, G. (2016). Gifted education standards to guide teaching and deepen student learning (NAGC). Retrieved May 15, 2017, from http://www.nagc.org/blog/gifted-education-standards-guide-teaching-and-deepen-student-learning
Brumberger, E. (2011). Visual literacy and the digital native: An Examination of the millennial learner. Journal of visual literacy, 30(1), 19. Retrieved from Questia.
Heick, T. (2014). Guide for teaching with analogies (Teach though). Retrieved May 15, 2017, from http://www.teachthought.com/critical-thinking/types-of-analogies/
McCarthy, R. (2015). Help all readers access complex texts (Teaching channel). Retrieved May 15, 2017, from https://www.teachingchannel.org/blog/2015/03/18/access-complex-texts/
Scott, A. (2017). The OPTIC strategy for visual analysis (VCG). Retrieved May 15, 2017, from http://thevisualcommunicationguy.com/2017/02/09/the-optic-strategy-for-visual-analysis/
Betts, G. (2016). Gifted education standards to guide teaching and deepen student learning (NAGC). Retrieved May 15, 2017, from http://www.nagc.org/blog/gifted-education-standards-guide-teaching-and-deepen-student-learning
Brumberger, E. (2011). Visual literacy and the digital native: An Examination of the millennial learner. Journal of visual literacy, 30(1), 19. Retrieved from Questia.
Heick, T. (2014). Guide for teaching with analogies (Teach though). Retrieved May 15, 2017, from http://www.teachthought.com/critical-thinking/types-of-analogies/
McCarthy, R. (2015). Help all readers access complex texts (Teaching channel). Retrieved May 15, 2017, from https://www.teachingchannel.org/blog/2015/03/18/access-complex-texts/
Scott, A. (2017). The OPTIC strategy for visual analysis (VCG). Retrieved May 15, 2017, from http://thevisualcommunicationguy.com/2017/02/09/the-optic-strategy-for-visual-analysis/