Visual Literacy: Teachers Online: Using Personal Visual Literacy Skills to Enhance ProfessionalTeaching KnowledgeAuthor(s): Diane Lapp, James Flood and Debra Bayles MartinSource: The Reading Teacher, Vol. 51, No. 8 (May, 1998), pp. 702-705Published by: Wiley on behalf of the International Reading AssociationStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/20201990 .
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VISUAL LITERACY_ Editors: Diane Lapp
James Flood San Diego State University, San Diego, California, USA
Coauthor: Debra Bayles Martin San Diego State University, San Diego, California, USA
Teachers online: Using personal visual
literacy skills to enhance professional
teaching knowledge It's the end of a busy school day. Three teachers in very different locations take a moment to reflect on their efforts to
help students comprehend information al text. Often, these teachers have heard friends and students exclaim, "I love the novel I'm reading?I wish it would never end!" But none of the three can
remember the last time they heard the same exuberance from someone read
ing an informational text. Somewhat
frustrated, Sandra, Victor, and Lupita each wonder: "Why do most of my stu dents experience informational and narrative texts so differently? Am I ad
equately preparing them to read and ap
preciate nonnarrative text materials?" In the past, these three teachers may
have sighed, packed up their belongings, and left their classrooms for the day?
wishing to discuss their concerns with other educators, and yet feeling they had neither the time nor die professional net
work to do so. Fortunately, technologi cal advances are changing the way teachers approach these challenges.
Today, instead of simply enduring daily concerns or frustrations, teachers can
log onto computers and access a number
of helpful sources. There are Web sites filled with teaching plans and ideas, in teractive programs that offer curriculum connections and extensions, and elec
tronic chatrooms?places where teach
ers can gather to discuss common ques tions or ideas.
In this column, we describe how
Sandra, Victor, and Lupita could use a
teacher chatroom to explore ways to in
vite their students to gain facility with informational texts. As you join in their electronic conversation, we hope you'll discover some helpful ideas for using informational texts in your own class room. We also hope you'll enjoy this online experience, which is an exam
ple of how teachers are expanding their
personal visual literacy skills by using the Internet to explore educational is sues with other like-minded educators.
An Internet conversation
Victor: Hi! I'm Victor Lee, and I teach 32 fifth graders in a self
contained classroom in Cali fornia. Eight of my children are English as Second Lang uage. All of my students like to
read stories, and they're pretty
good at it. But when we get to
science and social studies they fall apart, and I really don't know what to do.
Sandra: Hi Victor! I've wondered about that too. My name is Sandra, and I teach fourth grade in
Ohio. I have a class of 26 mid
die class Anglo and African American children. They're all
English speakers. I feel pretty good about dialogue journals and book clubs. But I'm not sure how these ideas would
work with content reading? like in our textbooks.
Victor: That's what brought me on
line. When I heard about this chat line, I thought maybe peo ple would be sharing some new ideas.
Lupita: Hi Sandra and Victor! Mind if I join in? I'm Lupita, and I teach third grade in Florida. I've been grappling with the same concerns you've men
tioned. My work is particularly challenging because there's a
lot of change within my class room. I usually have about 27 ESL students, although many move out?and in?during the school year.
Victor: We're glad for you to join us! Do you have any ideas for us?
Lupita: Well, I think the most useful ideas I've heard so far came from our reading specialist at the middle school. She told me
that mature, capable readers
approach all reading with par ticular expectations. These ex
702 The Reading Teacher Vol. 51, NO. 8 May 1998 ?1998 International Reading Association (pp. 702-705)
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pectations come from each reader's past experiences,
knowledge, and beliefs. She used the word stance to de scribe this set of expectations.
Sandra: Wait a minute! Did you say the middle school reading special ist? What is her knowledge about older readers going to do for our elementary students?
Our students don't have enough experience to have stances yet!
Lupita: I thought that at first, too. But she told me to hang on?said I
would see that this idea works for all readers.
Victor: It's a little hard for me to see
how, but I'll be patient. Tell us
more, Lupita.
Lupita: Well, the specialist mentioned Louise Rosenblatt's (1978) ideas about efferent and aes
thetic stances?
Victor: Oh, I remember that from a
reading course I took in col
lege. Aesthetic is what we do with reader response activities and literature books, right?
Lupita: Yes?at least that's one kind of aesthetic experience :-). If you read for an aesthetic purpose,
you're reading for the "litera ture experience"?maybe to
become lost in a good book, to
imagine yourself in another
time, that sort of thing. Sandra: We do that all the time in read
ers' workshop. It's so much fun. I remember one day the students were so involved in their books that no one even
moved when the recess bell
rang! I couldn't believe it. I ac
tually had to interrupt them and TELL them to go to recess!
Victor: That's great! I've had similar
experiences?in fact, some
times aesthetic reading is the
only kind of reading I want to teach! Unfortunately, we're
supposed to do SOMETHING with content reading too, and I
really get anxious about how to
doit. Sandra: Yeah. So what did your spe
cialist say about that, Lupita? Lupita: Well, the reading specialist told
me that when readers read with an "efferent" stance, that's more
like what we think of as content or informational reading.
Sandra: Like reading for a test or some
thing? Lupita: That's one kind of efferent
reading. If you assume an ef ferent stance, you're trying to "take away" information from the reading. But, like aesthetic
reading, efferent reading can
also be fun. When you have the
strategies to read informational text successfully, you're able to enjoy the experience.
Victor: So efferent reading is sort of
practical, do-something-with-it reading?like what we want the children to do with their science and social studies texts? Or like
you do with a telephone book or a menu?
Lupita: Yes, that's the idea. But even
when someone is doing infor mational reading, it's probably never completely "efferent." Readers have feelings and emo
tions about everything (whether
they're negative, neutral, or
positive). Besides, just because someone reads for pleasure (aesthetic) doesn't mean they don't learn something from it
(efferent). Sandra: I know what you mean there.
I remember how much the students picked up about dog sled racing and northern cli
mates from reading Stone Fox
(Gardiner, 1980), and I never
directly taught any of that!
They even made comparisons between our winters here in Ohio and those in the story.
Victor: Okay. From what you're say
ing, I'm thinking about how I act when it's time for reading in science and social studies. Instead of looking forward to it like I do readers' workshop, I
wonder if maybe I come across
like, "Okay, we've had our fun. Now it's time for the 'work'
reading."
Sandra: Exactly! Maybe because I'm not sure how to make the "fac tual" reading fun, I make it
very serious.
Lupita: And yet, there are lots of won
derful, well-written informa
tional books and articles?in our textbooks and in other chil dren's literature. When we ap
proach content reading as
"serious" or "work," we may
be sending a message based on an unfounded assumption.
Victor: You mean, if we assume that factual or content reading is "hard" and "not fun"?we end
up expecting to have to "make" students read?
Lupita: Right! And yet, how often do
you have to tear away a student from a book about animals or a sports hero?you know, the kind with all the statistics? Children OFTEN read for facts on their own.
Sandra: Isn't that interesting! You're so right! I've got three children in my classroom who can tell
you every batting statistic for the Cleveland Indians?not
just for this year, but for sev
eral years back. They think
they're experts on the team. It was so funny the other day. Two other students in my class came in with some news about the pitcher that the "experts" hadn't heard yet! The experts didn't believe them, and the other two pulled out a newspa per clipping to prove their
point. You should have seen
the experts' faces! I've never
really thought about my stu dents poring over the newspa pers and other information sources.
Victor: You know what else I'm think
ing? Sometimes I tend to think of my students as too young for a lot of factual stuff?so I do just the opposite and avoid factual texts. We read lots of
storybooks and fun stuff. I haven't done much about find
ing children's literature that
supports our science and social studies curriculum. I guess I've been too immersed in getting our readers' workshop going!
Lupita: I know what you mean. And of
course, getting readers' work
shop going is a good thing! Certainly we want to be sure
students have many enjoyable
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experiences with lots of text
genres. But after talking to the
specialist, I decided that the first step to improving my con
tent reading instruction would be to focus on finding informa tional books, magazines, news
papers, brochures, etc., that
support an aesthetic experience about facts.
Victor: Can you give us an example? Lupita: Well, let's see. Even though
it's a picture book and might seem a little "young" for my third graders, I use Koko's
Kitten (Patterson, 1985) when we study about animals. Do
you know that book? Victor: No. Sandra: I don't think so.
Lupita: It's a neat story about a gorilla who wants to have a kitten as a pet. When the students read it
(or when I read it to them), the children always want to know how the trainer taught Koko
sign language. They also ask if other animals "talk." They have so many questions; I can
hardly keep up with them! When I bring in other books
and articles about animal com
munication, they practically jump out of their seats to get hold of them!
Sandra: I like that. And I can see how the students would want to read more. But what about the skills for reading informational text? Even though readers may
not take a pure efferent or aes
thetic stance, don't they need lots of help learning how to read efferently? I mean, if you use neat informational books, aren't you just making another readers' workshop out of sci ence and social studies? What about when the students get older and they're expected to
read a text chapter and remem
ber the key points? Victor: I have an idea! Couldn't you
do some minilessons on find
ing information and organizing notes.. .that sort of thing?
Lupita: That's a good point. I don't think it hurts to have some
"workshop-like" experiences
with informational text, but the children also need the opportu nity to learn and practice strate
gies that help them process and remember what they read.
There's no reason why mini
lessons can't occur whenever
there's a need?in social stud
ies, science, whenever!
Sandra: Hmmn. I can see that. But what about the good old study skills we learned in school?
Would you teach them in mini lessons too?
Victor: Why not? You could just take
your cue from the students, couldn't you?
Lupita: I think so, Victor. But it may pay to be a little more planful in setting up the kind of envi ronment where the students
would CARE about the mini lessons. Our reading specialist
mentioned five things teachers can do in their classrooms to
help students wonder about the world. She explained that if
teachers create an environment
where students wonder, ques
tions will arise naturally. When students raise their own ques tions, they want to find an swers for them. That's the time to show them how a particular reading strategy or skill can
help them find the answer
they're looking for. Victor: Oh! I've never thought of that!
We sort of force facts on the students in our units?and so
often they don't seem to want to know more. But if we turned it around and got the students
asking things?they'd be read
ing to find out! And then we
could show them ways to make the most of their reading to an swer their questions! Oh! Then
minilessons would help stu dents achieve their OWN read
ing goals! They'd really listen!
Lupita: That's exactly it! See, if we
"set the stage" in our class
rooms to get our students in
quiring and wondering about
things, we also set the stage to teach them how to find an
swers?and at a time when
they want to know!
Sandra: I'm starting to get really excit ed! I have a feeling part of the reason content reading isn't as
successful as I'd like it to be is that my students are reading science and social studies books for MY purposes instead of THEIR OWN! What are
those five things we can do to
change that?
Lupita: They include: 1. creating a functional and di
verse text environment,
2. activating students' prior knowledge,
3. promoting active student en
gagement with text, 4. developing useful vocabu
lary, and 5. fostering inquiry.
Sandra: Thanks for the list, Lupita. I've
already started collecting all kinds of things to take to class for my next unit of study! That's the first one. But I'm still wondering if there are cer
tain skills we should be sure
and teach in minilessons? Is there a list somewhere we
should follow?
Lupita: I imagine you have curriculum
guides and other criteria from
your district and school. I like to look over our district and state guides for minilesson ideas?but I've found it's usual
ly better to wait to introduce a
particular skill until the students are reading something that re
quires its actual use. For exam
ple, when some sixth graders in our school were reading about
World War II, they wondered what President Truman said about the Hiroshima bombing.
No one had a book or article with just that focus, but many of the books included information about Hiroshima or the Presi dent. My friend Kathy (their teacher) had everyone take out their books and turn to the back to see if an index was provided.
Then they scanned the indexes to find entries for both Hiro shima and President Truman.
Kathy said they decided togeth er that they would be more like
ly to locate answers to their
704 The Reading Teacher Vol. 51, No. 8 May 1998
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question if the same page num
ber appeared under both head
ings. This was the first time
Kathy really had a reason to
show the students how to cross
reference an index entry?at least a reason that came from the students themselves! Kathy told me it was great because the students ended up finding a quo tation that answered their ques tion. And she says she's seen
students comparing index en
tries since?looking for answers to other questions.
Victor: That's exciting to see!
Lupita: It really is. The other thing I've discovered is that it's impor tant to remind the students that
they aren't restricted only to
the methods I demonstrate.
Instead, I encourage students to explore many approaches to informational reading and dis cover personal strategies that work for them. We often meet as a group to share the ways we have tackled informational
reading?and I've seen stu
dents try out ideas they've heard from other students dur
ing our sharing sessions. Sandra: Is there anything else you'd
recommend for us as we exper
iment with content reading, Lupita?
Lupita: Not right now. But don't stay offline experimenting for too
long! I know we'll want to talk
again very soon! As illustrated by this exchange, the
Internet is a valuable information source for teachers like Sandra, Victor, and Lupita. Conversing electronically
helps them gain new insights about how to support students who are at
tempting to read and learn from multi
ple genre. Technological advances like the Internet offer teachers numerous
opportunities to expand their personal visual literacy skills and become adept at accessing and using electronic mail and undertaking Web searches. These advances also provide a new avenue for teachers to share and enhance their pro fessional knowledge about teaching.
Like others, educators enamored by the endless possibilities offered through exploration of the Internet are not only using technology to support their own
learning. They are also trying to sensibly understand and accept responsibility for
exposing their students to the technolog ical opportunities that become more and
more a part of the mainstream culture. As Katz (1997) noted, "VCRs, comput ers, and CD-ROMs are among the best
selling consumer products in American
history, approaching portable phones and microwave ovens as ubiquitous fix tures of middle-class life" (p. 43).
As our society moves forward in the information age, strategies for learning from various types of text will play an
increasingly important role in our con
ception and definition of what it means to be fully literate. As we become in
creasingly adept in helping children en
gage with fiction and other narrative
literature, we will also want to equally enhance content reading instruction? drawn not only from print materials, but from other technological sources.
Engaging in personal exploration of
technology and developing facility with a number of applications are im
portant steps toward that goal.
References
Gardiner, J. (1980). Stone Fox. New York: HarperCollins.
Katz, J. (1997, January 19). Old media, new media. The New York Times, 7, p. 43.
Patterson, F. (1985). Koko's kitten. New York: Scholastic.
Rosenblatt, L.M. (1978). The reader, the text, the poem. Carbondale, IL: Southern
Illinois University Press.
Visual Literacy illustrates that the many dimensions of visual literacy can be
learned, used, and integrated simultaneously. The editors can be contacted through Diane Lapp, School of Teacher Education, San Diego State University, San
Diego, CA 92182-0139, USA. E-mail: [email protected]
VISUAL LITERACY 705
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