Connecting the Visual to the Verbal in the Classroom

Rationale:

Third grade students are creative thinkers highly motivated to discover hidden meanings in words and pictures. They love to solve puzzles and problems, and are fascinated by unsolved mysteries. From my experience, third grade is the perfect age at which to foster critical thinking skills and introduce new concepts. With constant practice and modeling by teacher and peers, most students learn to think critically very quickly. "Critical thinking is thinking that has a purpose (proving a point, interpreting what something means, solving a problem)... Critical thinking is about how you approach problems, questions, issues. It is the best way we know of to get to the truth." ¹ Critical thinking includes the "cognitive skills of interpretation, analysis, evaluation, inference, explanation, and self–regulation." ²

Cognitive development research continues to uncover the secrets of how children learn. At the early intermediate level, children learn by starting with a concrete example before moving into abstract thought. Connecting art (a concrete example) to poetry (disembodied words that are hard to visualize even though for more experienced readers they suggest images), will help students interpret the author's and artist's purpose, while teaching them to create images from words and use words to create images. Studies continue to support the idea of integrating disciplines with a common theme. Integrating the three subjects of art, language arts, and history allows more time to be spent on deeper understanding of the topics. Integrating subjects makes information more easily accessible to the individual by developing more connections in the brain, called "dendrites." We also know that children learn by constructing "... understanding and develop[ing] theories about the world on the basis of their experience." ³ In this unit, children will be building new information about poetry from what they already can see in the art. Through the integration of three subjects, there will always be new learning being constructed from prior learning.

Third graders are natural poets. They love to read and write poetry, and are capable of creating very sophisticated poems with the right guidance. Free from the restriction of grammar, students can let their ideas flow. Free–verse poetry results in especially sophisticated and creative works from the students, since their ideas are not bound by rules of meter and rhyming in addition to rules of grammar.

Writing poetry based on an art object or artifact requires acute observation. Students must pay close attention to details before writing about an artifact or work of art. What emotions, colors, textures, actions, and images are depicted? What moment has been captured and how do the participants feel about it? Although students at this level have the ability to think abstractly, instruction needs to begin with concrete examples. For this reason, using a visual depiction – whether a work of art, photograph, landmark, or artifact – serves as a great method to focus student writing on just one moment. In the past, I have asked students to visualize the moment to be captured in their poems, then sketch the moment. Sketching the moment helped students maintain focus in their poetry. They understood that the poem would only describe the action, emotion, and images included in the sketch. This technique also improved the student's attention to detail, as they felt the need to add either to the sketch or poem to illustrate the moment.

Examining and analyzing works of poetry and art will enhance student writing of all types, making it more lively and interesting with vivid word choice, sensory details, and use of figurative language. Students will use a thesaurus to find words which best describe images or actions, building their own working vocabulary. Reading poetry improves fluency and sight vocabulary, which in turn improves comprehension. Fluent readers process text as meaningful chunks of information. Poetry provides opportunities for oral language development for all students, and is especially helpful for English language learners. Human beings learn through repeated practice. Poems are short enough so students don't mind doing repeated readings. Children enjoy reading poetry aloud, especially with a partner, because of the rhythm and interesting format. Usually at this level, students are not so self–conscious yet, so it is a good time to give them practice with oral presentations before an audience.

This unit of study will support instruction in reading comprehension. Studies have shown that there is a "significant correlation between critical thinking and reading comprehension. Improvements in the one are paralleled by improvements in the other." ⁴ Students learn and practice the strategies of creating sensory images (which includes sensory words and figurative language), making inferences, asking questions about text, and connecting text to prior knowledge. These are a few of the comprehension strategies outlined in Mosaic of Thought, by Keene and Zimmermann. Keene and Zimmerman's research has shown that there are comprehension strategies used by good readers that differ from the ones used by poor readers, and that the modeling and practice of comprehension strategies should be the basis of reading instruction. I have used the principles outlined by Mosaic of Thought as the foundation for my reading instruction for the last 12 years, and have witnessed student's success. Teaching comprehension strategies from think–aloud to independent use actually teaches students how their brains should be thinking as they read.

Poetry can be used as a preview, or anticipatory set before introducing students to a new concept. Students will connect poetry and art to the history of their community. Beginning a lesson with a poem or work of art prepares the student's mind for learning. Students ask questions about the work, form opinions, and draw conclusions that can only be confirmed by further investigation into the subject. Students at this level relish the victory of confirming predictions and inferences. To confirm their ideas as correct, the student must learn more through further research.

Students will learn that there are a variety of methods to communicate ideas; verbal, written, and visual. They will analyze and identify which types of communication best serve different purposes. Additionally, we can learn many things about history from poetry, photographs, paintings, drawings, and sculpture through close attention to detail. I want my students to critically observe these details in order to gather their own knowledge, form opinions, and make judgments.

Demographics and Standards:

There are about 500 students enrolled at my school, and the class size for third grade is between 30 and 35. Of our total enrollment, 28.6% are low income students, 12.0% are Special Education students, and 10.1% are Limited English Learners. My school's demographics are divided mainly among White (52%), Hispanic (26%), and Asian (18%). This demographic breakdown is misleading because a large portion of the "White" population is Middle–Eastern – non–native English speakers who receive no help outside of school. My classroom of 31 last year consisted of 39% low income (having free or reduced lunch), and 13% Limited English Learners. Special education students were assigned to another third grade classroom. Students in my classroom were White (56%, including Arabic), Hispanic (31%, some of mixed race, White and Hispanic), Asian (10%), African–American (3%).

This unit aligns with the Illinois Learning Standards for Reading State Goal 1A: Apply word analysis and vocabulary skills to comprehend selections, State Goal 1B: Apply reading strategies to improve understanding and fluency, and State Goal 1C: Comprehend a broad range of reading materials. Literature Goal 2A: Understand how literary elements and techniques are used to convey meaning, State Goal 2B: Read and interpret a variety of literary works, and Listening and Speaking State Goal 4B: Speak effectively using language appropriate to the situation and audience.

Students benefit from more Art instruction. Frequently Fine Arts programs are cut during times of budget crises, leaving students without this valuable form of communication and cultural knowledge. How can a culture or society be studied without looking at its art? Especially in the cases where art was the main form of communication, such as Native American or Egyptian cultures.

Fine Arts goals are met throughout this unit, including, 25.A.2d Visual Arts: Identify and describe the elements of 2– and 3–dimensional space, figure ground, value and form; the principles of rhythm, size, proportion and composition; and the expressive qualities of symbol and story. 25.B.2 Understand how elements and principles combine within an art form to express ideas. 27.B.2 Identify and describe how the arts communicate the similarities and differences among various people, places and times.