Jennifer Asha talks about Visual Literacy in the Primary and Secondary Classroom

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Using multimodal texts as stimulus for narrative writing tasks


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Text
Stage of writing
Structure or feature of narrative
Associated activity
Outcome
Dustin
The Coat by Julie Hunt and Ron Brooks
Fearless by Colin Thompson and Sarah Davis
Planning
Structure, Complication
Eyes motif.

Offer & Demand, what is being ‘said’ at different points in the story. Masks and BLM to add eyes to.

EN1-7B

The Gruffalo by Julia Donaldson and Alex Scheff;er
Truffles Christmas by Anna Currey
Planning
Structure, Orientation
Camera angles and distances (distance shows orientation and hints at resolution/coda)

Comic strip of clip to show stages of a narrative
EN2-2A


The Present
One Step at a Time Jane Jolly and Sally Heinrich
Writing
Structure, Complication
Brainstorm, predict
EN3-2A


Alike
The Lost Thing by Shaun Tan
Mr Huff by Anna Walker
Editing
Characterisation, noun groups
Before and after noun group
ENe-7B
The Stick
When Henry Caught Imaginitis by Nick Bland
Weslandia by Paul Fleischman and Kevin Hawkes
Editing
Description, vocabulary
Sculpting
EN3-6B

Soar
Journey by Aaron Bekker
An Ordinary Day by Libby Gleeson and Armin Greder
Editing
Audience
Foreshadowing
Reviewing clip, close reading/viewing
EN2-7B 
Mr W.
Ollie and the Wind by Ronojoy Ghosh
The Windy Farm by Doug MacLeod and Craig Smith
Planning and editing
Purpose and audience
Predicting and summarising content of clip
EN1-2A

Meeting History and English outcomes through the use of multimodal texts




When I'm choosing books as resources for lessons aimed at meeting both History and English outcomes and am guided by the general topics of family and family celebrations, and significance (Early Stage One and Stage One), local community celebrations and time passing (Stage One), broader community celebrations such as ANZAC day, continuity and change, early European settlement (Stage Two) and refugees, second fleet, effects of expanding settlement (Stage Three). While the History syllabus does cover a broader range of topics these are the topics most readily included as themes in picture books.
Following is a list of the online clips that can also be useful for studying language features, visual elements and text structures as they apply to the types of History texts students are expected to read/view and write/compose.
http://www.abc.net.au/btn/story/s3895053.htm 
http://www.myplace.edu.au/teaching_activities/1878_-_before_time/1788/1/the_encounter.html     http://www.abc.net.au/btn/story/s4412840.htm  
 http://splash.abc.net.au/home#!/media/1957482/first-fleet
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JsXmYHiuJ8s


Angles

Kress and Van Leeuwen classify the angle of images using cinematic terms, shot from above, shot from eye level and shot from below, to describe not only the way a scene or character is shown but also how the viewer is positioned.
Many picture book illustrators borrow from film techniques and playing around with angles to further position the viewer and create moods and emotions via their choices so that the viewer is seeing an image from a position that might seem unnatural. One example is the 'dutch tilt', an angle that shows the image as if the metaphoric camera is being held on the diagonal. In film making this technique is used to replicate the confused or dazed state of a character or situation and a similar effect can be achieved when it is used in illustrating.
The Watertower by Gary Crew and Steven Woolman is a mysterious tale that is illustrated using a variety of techniques not often seen in picture books. The tilted angle of several images compliments the written text to develop themes of confusion, mystery and the unknown. Here are two examples:

Have you noticed any other examples in the picture books you have read? How did the angle choice complement or add meaning to the written text?

Sample Visual Grammar Lesson

Here is a lesson plan for a demonstration lesson I taught recently. It was designed to show the Modelled, Guided, Independent lesson sequence to a group of teachers learning about teaching visual grammar using quality literature.

Year 2 demonstration lesson


The Nerdy Birdy by Danielle Wheeldon and David Snowden
Lesson Focus: How is the visual element of contact used along with the written text to engage the reader and help the reader to connect with the main character?
Outcome: EN1-4A draws on an increasing range of skills and strategies to fluently read, view and comprehend a range of texts on less familiar topics in different media and technologies
Content descriptors:
·      use comprehension strategies to build literal and inferred meaning and begin to analyse texts by drawing on growing knowledge of context, language and visual features and print and multimodal text structures
·      identify visual representations of characters' actions, reactions, speech and thought processes in narratives, and consider how these images add to or contradict or multiply the meaning of accompanying words
Modelled
Explain Offer and Demand using poster. (Visual Grammar Poster Set)
Guided
Ask students to give an offer and a demand to a partner.
Ask students to show how they might choose either an offer or demand to show they were worried, happy, excited, concerned.
During reading
Explain that the story we will read today uses this visual feature to show us how the character is feeling and to help us connect with and feel for the character.
Read the story.
Guided
Classify examples of the illustrations of Ned as either Offer or Demand and speculate on how Ned feels at these parts of the story.
Independent
Match images of Ned to parts of the written text, in small groups.
Conclude by sharing results of group work, explain the way both the image and words tell the story and drawing links between the use of offer and demand to help us connect with Ned.


Multimodal texts list


Who’s Got Milk? factual text about cows
The Three Little Pigs retelling with Lego characters
Babe movie trailer
When Dogs Fly adventure dogs documentary 
Career Dogs BTN 
Journey by Aaron Becker
The Snowman by Raymond Briggs
BTN refugees
What’s Behind the Label? - ethical consumerism
First 1000 days - World Vision, child health and poverty
Minuscule animation
Mr Huff Trailer - Anna Walker picture book
Warburtons bread advertisement featuring Sylvester Stallone
IKEA parody of smart phone advertisements
No nos versus Na nas Australian Banana advertisment
Amazing Flying Books of Mr Morris Lessmore trailer for short film based on the picture book by William Joyce