History+and+Visual+Literacy

The day the photographer comes to school to take portrait photos is always quite a day, filled with irrepressible excitement and barely suppressed anxiety. When the pictures arrive, they are shared, traded, talked about and sometimes hidden. We are all protective of our own image. Image has always been important to the powerful. Their portraits have traditionally been designed to impress us with the gravity of the subject. But changing sensibilities and media have tended to introduce more intimacy and spontaneity. In //Psychology Applied to Teaching//, Snowman & Biehler state the following in regards to fourth graders: “[he or she] can think logically, although such thinking is constrained and inconsistent” (80). The following 4th grade assignment requires logical thinking. These same authors describe eighth graders as being able to “handle more abstract and complex tasks and work more independently of the teacher, and they have strong needs for both autonomy and social contact” (89). The following 8th grade assignment is complex and requires independent research. One information skill being emphasized in the lessons is **//visual literacy//**. An information literacy and inquiry skill related to history: “draws conclusions about roles in life from data gathered through photos, documents, and primary sources” (Callison 92). The lessons focus on social studies generally, specifically history. Daniel Callison defines visual literacy as: "The ability to understand and use images, including the ability to think, learn and express oneself in terms of images; the ability to interpret and communicate with respect to visual symbols in nonprint media, as visual literacy in viewing television, art, and nature" (Blue Book 423). Creating visual and literary representations of people has proven to be an enduring human activity. Help your students examine this compulsion of ours to capture the human in image and words.

The **//__Fourth Grade__//** assignment and accompanying documents can be found here. The **//__Eighth Grade__//** assingment and accompanying documents can be found here.