Reflection #4

In Amy Shultz’s article, “The Sweet Role of Art in Literacy,” she discusses how teachers can us are and literature in conjunction to provide visual learners with an access point that can help them learn to write. She suggests that students create story collages that they can edit, discuss, and perform for their teachers and classmates. In this project, students are encouraged to use both images and text to express their ideas, because this provides them with a way make their ideas visible, even if writing is still a struggle.

Here is an Example of a Main Lesson Book from Whole.org

I am very interested in Shultz’s method of teaching literacy, and I think to some extent, this was used in my elementary schooling. I can remember creating “Main Lesson Books” in grades 1-8 in which I was required to copy stories of my own composition into an artistic book, and accompany them with visual representations and drawings of important events within each story. It is very important that teachers avoid creating an environment where students become frustrated that they cannot read or write. If we give our visual students an outlet to express their ideas through art, we can alleviate some of those frustrations. The only challenge with teaching literacy in this way would be gradually shifting from visual representation to written literacy with struggling students in order to prepare them for the rigid assessment requirements often present in public schools for evaluating literacy. How can we support our visual learners while still meeting mandated test requirements? Is there a way to change assessment methods in order to evaluate students based on knowledge and ideas, instead of their ability to write those ideas on paper?