The first activity, for pre-readers, involves “reading” an illustration, like the one below:
Even without words, it's pretty obvious what's happening in this picture. Young children can interpret, or “read” illustrations before they can read text, a satisfying experience that encourages them to want to learn how to read for real. Picture books, of course, have pictures that can be read, and the pictures often tell part of the story that isn’t described by the text (and usually it’s preschoolers, not adults, who notice this). I also create illustrations like the one above, called StoryArt, that tell stories.
To help your child “read” a picture, ask her to describe what's happening, who it's happening to and where it's happening (plot, characters, setting). This will help her with reading comprehension when she begins to read text.
Even without words, it's pretty obvious what's happening in this picture. Young children can interpret, or “read” illustrations before they can read text, a satisfying experience that encourages them to want to learn how to read for real. Picture books, of course, have pictures that can be read, and the pictures often tell part of the story that isn’t described by the text (and usually it’s preschoolers, not adults, who notice this). I also create illustrations like the one above, called StoryArt, that tell stories.
To help your child “read” a picture, ask her to describe what's happening, who it's happening to and where it's happening (plot, characters, setting). This will help her with reading comprehension when she begins to read text.
The second activity, for readers, involves making StoryArt. My colleague Johanna van der Sterre and I teach a fifth grade StoryArt making workshop. Through this workshop we’ve discovered that children who might struggle to write a story have no trouble illustrating a story; thus, the activity inspires confidence and creativity which spills over into literacy. We teach the workshop to fifth-graders because these older elementary students have less opportunity to do art in the classroom than do younger students, but the activity should work for younger students students as well, and is suitable for both the home and the classroom. Briefly, this is what the kids do when we teach the workshop:
Make Your Own StoryArt
For first grade and up; click here for PDF instructions.
You will need:
Small objects (stamps, coins, small toys, other small objects)
drawing or Bristol paper, 11 x 14"
Scrap paper
Pencil
Thin black marker
Colored pencils
Construction paper, 12 x 18"
Scotch tape (double sided if you have it)
Glue or glue gun
The activity (we do this in four, one-hour sessions):
Step 1: Formulate the Story Have the children select from a variety of ordinary objects (we pass these out on a tray). After the objects are chosen, tell the children that they will use the objects as inspiration to create a story. To do this, they should imagine what the object might represent, where it might be found, who may be present, and what might be happening. For example, a marble might represent a planet in a distant galaxy being visited by two astronauts in a spaceship. Or, the marble might be just a marble that fell through a hole in someone’s pocket and got lost. A simple story is fine!
Tips: (1) Before you begin, it helps to go over the components of a story: plot, characters, setting and title. A story must have all these components, and so should the StoryArt. (2) To give children an idea of what they are supposed to do, model the story-making process with an object that no child has chosen. Once they get the idea, they can be really creative; we’ve taught this workshop for four years, and never had a child not come up with a story. (3) Provide a brainstorming worksheet so children can put their ideas on paper.
Step 2: Create the Illustration From their imaginings, the children sketch their story onto drawing paper. After the sketch is done they then go over the final pencil lines with thin black marker, and color in the illustration with colored pencil.
Tip: As the children draw, ask them to think about details they can add to their story. This really gets the creative juices flowing; for example, in the illustration titled "The Mice"(see below) the student came up with the idea of cats parachuting onto the roof after he had drawn the house and mice.
Tip: As the children draw, ask them to think about details they can add to their story. This really gets the creative juices flowing; for example, in the illustration titled "The Mice"(see below) the student came up with the idea of cats parachuting onto the roof after he had drawn the house and mice.
Step 3: Mount the Artwork Students summarize their story on a small piece of paper (we provide a form with space for a title and a brief description of characters, plot and setting), and mount the StoryArt, form and object on construction paper.
Step 4: Share the Stories! When the students are done, we have them share their stories in a round table discussion. Another great idea: share the stories with pre-readers.
Now, here are examples of StoryArt from some incredibly talented students from South Hill Elementary School (click to enlarge):
School A girl named Rachel is sitting at her desk taking a math test. inspired by an eraser
The Airboard A ten year old boy named Matt is riding his airboard. inspired by a wrench
Uses of a lost shoe Two mice use a lost shoe to hide from a passing snake. inspired by a toy shoe
The Mice As mice in a toy car steal food, cats parachute onto the roof to stop them. inspired by a toy car
I love these ideas for visual literacy, and for linking literacy and art. Thanks for sharing!
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