Suggests that films and videos enhance the English curriculum and makes students critical users of visual media. Seven strategies for using film and video in the classroom or media center are offered. Twelve highly recommended video series (most with teacher guides) are listed by elementary, middle, and high school level. Vendor information is…

Argues that educators should train themselves and students to understand and cope with television's power. Describes an inventory of viewing and reading habits, then discusses how three principles of teaching television are expressed in class activities. Outlines a unit that takes students from television as "just entertainment" to active,…

This district curriculum guide for teaching media skills in grades K-10 lists the skills that should be taught in grades K-6 and at the junior and senior high school levels. It is suggested that these skills be integrated into the classroom curriculum with emphasis on applications. The skills for grades K-6 are presented in five strands: (1) the…

Presents a visual literacy approach for limited-English-speaking students that incorporates both language and nonverbal thought processes. Describes how students take photographic essays, reconstruct the developed pictures using the visual framework of semantic maps, and write essays based on the photographs. (RS)

A classroom teacher and media expert explain why television reaches students in ways that other media cannot (it brings the curriculum to life, speaks to today's students, and is immediate). The article includes tips for taking charge of the channels. A spring 1992 instructor's program guide lists educationally beneficial programs. (SM)

Describes a three-day unit for eighth-grade geography classes that uses a videotape of an ABC News Special to combine a lesson on the Bosnian Civil War with a media-analysis activity. (SR)

Connecting visual and print literacies in the classroom can bridge distances in students' experiences, because all literacies are complementary and interdependent. This article discusses this rationale for connecting students' communication experiences in and out of classrooms to foster relevant literacies needed in contemporary society. Next it…

The lessons in this 10-day unit for high school sophomores are designed to: (1) acquaint students with terminology related to visual literacy; (2) enable students to make comparisons between drama for the theater and drama for film; (3) acquaint students with the basic structural elements of film such as movement, lighting, sound and music,…

In 1899, the Committee of Ten on Drawing, organized by the National Education Association, proposed that one of the main goals of art education should be "to offer a consistent development in the faculty of sight." Art appreciation was centered on the literal translation of the painting. Importance was placed on connecting the painter's…

Children's visual literacy can be enhanced by focusing their attention on aspects of the natural or built environment in the local community. Two activities use photographs and field trips to provide the building blocks of visual literacy: challenging activities, inquiry and problem solving, curiosity and the unexpected, and culture-based…

This document presents a definition and brief background of graphic design and visual education. It outlines a journalism and mass media course lecture which introduces students to the commercial scope of visual communications and the potentials of design. The script along with appropriate slide titles and descriptions, are provided to recreate…

Two sources provide guidance for developing a teaching strategy. The field of art criticism provides models of verbal behaviors for responding to art, and the research on classroom interaction provides models of questioning strategies. Excerpts from three dialogues between an adult and young children about painting reproductions are included. (SR)

Examines educational film and video as an affective or cognitive learning tool. Suggestions are given on how to select a film for a particular lesson; how to prepare students for viewing; how to structure a lesson including the language arts; and how students can be led to improved visual literacy though analysis of form and structure. (Author/KRN)

The teaching activities presented in this document focus on teaching students the language of science through reading and writing. The first activity engages students in writing everything they know about a particular science topic, devising questions for further study, reading and gathering information to answer the questions, developing specific…

Art studies is a sequence of experiences intended to enhance Alberta, Canada students' knowledge in the discipline of art, emphasizing the student as critic, consumer, and historian. Art 11 surveys the role of the artifact in every day life. Art 21 surveys the history of art in western culture. Art 31 examines the impact of international influence…