Cameras and photography offer children a tool for investigating interesting scenes in their environments, turning them into active observers of life. The article recommends types of cameras, describes how to get children started, and presents a variety of activities to help children get the most out of a camera. (SM)

The Department of Media and Communications of the Pestalozzianum Zurich (Switzerland) develops materials for media education. This article describes a book on visual competence, a CD-ROM investigating the production and distribution of newspapers, an eight-part TV series on contributions to media education, and a multimedia package about a…

Studied infant ability to extract depth information from a three-dimensional structure. Found evidence that 8-month-old infants distinguished between lines indicating edges, and lines indicating markings, and that they are able to use line junctions to perceive line drawings as depicting three-dimensional objects in the picture plane. (Author)

Analysis of data from cooperative education students revealed a high probability that students would participate in co-op work tasks that develop general education skills in communication, visual literacy, and critical thinking. The ability to use these skills in practice is a significant outcome of cooperative education. (SK)

Examines the interplay of text, illustrations, and book design elements, using examples from children's books. Discusses the impact of book design on young readers' responses, and presents ideas for acquainting children with specific book design elements. Suggests that class activities in book design can improve children's visual and verbal…

Notes that "viewing" (acquiring and criticizing ideas visually conveyed) and "representing" (communicating ideas through various media) are being incorporated into language arts curriculum documents in Canada. Presents 72 teaching ideas (for language arts, science, and math) that encourage teachers to adopt, adapt, and…

Analyzes how a young child made sense of the stories she watched on video. Discusses how she used what was "at hand" to represent and re-represent the world; how she used repeated viewings to make sense of screen codes and conventions; and how initially watching a video in the company of an adult offered guided participation around televisual…

The Metropolitan District of Lawrence Township in Indianapolis, Indiana, needs a new model of teaching the latest technologies and strategies to teach kids. This paper presents the districts' implementation of the staff development plan. The plan focuses on enhancing teachers' abilities to teach: (a) basic literacy; (b) technological literacy; (c)…

"Critical Visual Literacy: Multimodal Communication Across the Curriculum" makes the case for expanding the pedagogical space and communication possibilities in undergraduate communication-intensive and linked (learning community) courses by allowing students to create multimodal texts that deal with civic and cultural and/or discipline…

Children growing up in this technological age need to develop nonverbal communication skills as well as verbal skills. The authors review the importance of various types of visual communication and visual literacy, and suggest projects for classes or individuals using cameras, films, and other media to stimulate visual communication skills. (AV)

Discusses importance of the ability to visualize images evoked by the written word in the development of children's skills in both reading and creative writing. Specific skills involved are noted, examples from picture books are given, and 48 picture books that would be useful to developing such skills are listed. (EM)

Presents a lesson plan based on John Singleton Copley's 1795 oil painting, "Portrait of Nathaniel Hurd." The goal of the lesson is to give students in grades four through six an awareness of portraiture and how portraits record not only character but historical times and customs. (JDH)

"At the Piano," an oil-on-canvas painting completed in 1859 by James Abbot McNeill Whistler, is used as the basis of a lesson designed to help junior high school students analyze the painting's mood, subject matter, and composition. (JDH)

Defines aesthetic scanning, the perceptual activity that artists use when creating art and that connoisseurs use when contemplating it. Shows how to ask questions that elicit information about the sensory, formal, expressive, and technical properties of a work of art. (JDH)

Children at the preoperational and concrete operational levels are influenced by a variety of perceptual cues other than subject matter when classifying paintings. While younger children had little difficulty in classifying paintings done in three stylistic categories, older children were able to perform this task with significantly greater…