['An eye for art' article in Plano Star Courier] Page: 1 of 1

                                
An eye for art
Visual Literacy helps elementary students with academic skills

By VALERIE BARNA                 a
stae ani e
Students confronted ith famous
and not so-famous art pnnts are
learntig a lot more than notes in
color and fon these dass n Pianos  t
elementary classrooms
Theprntsof paintings. sculptures
and various objects dart have be-
come the springboard for dramaic
improvement in reading, writing.
vocabulary and critical thinking
skils.
In vocabulary alone. Chnstie
second-graders taught by Kn Gd
showed a gain of 2 1 to 3.4 years on
last year's Iowa Test of Basic Skas.
The progress can be attributed to
the Visual Literacy program that Gd
learned in the summer of 1990 at the
North Texas Art Institute and its
odshoot, the Piano Art Institute.
Two teachers at each Plano
elementary school grade level have
attended the institutes, where they
learned more about art and how to
incorporate it into their currcula-
Those teachers then tram other
teachers.
I had one art class in college. so I
wasn't exactly an art historian.' said
Gil. "But I knew (the method) would
work for me because I'm a visual
learner. So I knew it would work for
the children, too."
In Visual Lteracy, mapsr works of
art are used to mtroduce such read-
ing concepts as man idea and detail.
cause and effect relationships. char-
acters' feelings. reality and fantasy,
pronouns, adjectives and voca-
buLary.
At Christie this week. second-
graders were learning homonyms -
words that mean different things but
sound the same. They were having
trouble with the cone . sad Gi.
until they worked with bt Velas-
que' painwf. Pnne       Z
Carlos on His Pony-    Bata
Gill began the session by announc-
ing the panting and noting that as a
prince, Balthazar will reign. The
children quickly realized there's
another meaning to "reign' if it's
spelled 'rain.
In no tune at all they had picked
out a number of word twms based on
the picture: -horse' as in Balthazar's
mount and "hoarse" as in a tred
voice: "gat" as in the horse's stride
and "gate" as an what closes the
corral.
-'After they work through it
visually and have an understandig
of the concept through their own
backgrounds and experience. the
students are able to apply what
they've learned to their reading,'
Gill said.
To learn how to differentiate the
mam idea of a story from its many
details. the children used a print of
Winslow Homer's 'Breezing L'p."
Thee task was to name the picture

after they had aurmlsed the main
lea.                             p
The Lhadren were given happy-
ace stickers to attach to what they 
onsidered the picture's details.
Thev quickly applied 'happy aces
o the boys in the boat. the ocean
and sky. a ship on the horuon and
the hat one of the boaters was
wearing
As they studied the picture, they
deduced that it must be a sunny day
because one of the boaters was
wearing a sun hat and there
appeared to be a lot of light on the
waves.
The children renamed the  ure
-Warm. Sunny Day on the Ocean'
- which is not too far from Winslow
Homers title. "Breezing Up.?
Gil sad other pictures have been
used to help the second-graders
learn words having particular sounds
- such as the short "e." With te
picture in front of them, the children
peck out every item that contains
that sound in its name-
A different procedure is used for
spelling words. In the Winslow
Homer picture. for example. Gill
might ask how the boat could have
gotten into the water. Someone
lifted it, a child might say. And
"lifted" is the spelling word the chil-
dren are to learn.
Gil said She writes everything the
children say on the board or on pla-
cards to be placed around the room.
'hisey remember what they say"
Gill said. "Seeing the visual Oike the
Winslow Homer prnt) helps them
recal the discussion."
She added that the students are
itngued by the cpportunltv to bring
their thoughts and feelings to the arx
print. -They then become risk-
takers sice there are no right or
wrong answers." Gill said.
The prints used at Christie are
from the set. "Makmg Friends With
Art" A member of one of the found-
ing families at Chnsue was so in-
pressed with the Visual Literacy
process that she donated $400 fer
the purchase of another. different
set. Gil sad. That set wid be thema-
oca*y based for reading.
Gil added that parents are equally
impressed. She recently used the
Visual Literacy method with special
education children attending Carlsle
Elementary Schools simer ses-
saon. Parents reported that their
children suddenly wanted to go to
the ibran ever day. Gil said. The
parents were mystified.
Explained Gill. "The kids are in-
spired. They want to find more. read
more about whatever they've been
iokang at."
The Visual Literacy teacher. who
has been videotaped for Urnversity
of North Texas graduate students,
noted that there have always been
children who are visual in their learn-
ig style.

'But basal readers emphasize
hoenets and .gnure visuals. sid.
2 percent of ,ar basic .otabulary ia
earned b >ight.- she said. It s at
he point now where "a child has to
be trained to look at ltters and the
way they relate to eacti other) be-
fore he can look to learn.-
Visual Literacy quickens the
earning process. Gad said.
It also does wonders or wring.
Gill invites her students to use
visuabzation iechrqss before they
start wrintg."L t those mental pi -
tures come out. Then use them -
dont let them be stieed.-
Gill. one of more than a dozen
Christie teachers using Visual Li-
teracy. said the method has changed
her life as a teacher -And I know
how much it has changed the chil-
dren s belief in themselves about be-
comtng good writers and good
readers.
Gill. who as a panebst at Southern
Methodist University presented the
Visual Literacy concept to four other
Texas school distncts. is now help-
~ig the Panama Cay. Fb., schools
develop it.
She will present a sa-hour work-
shop. "If a Picture tlints a
Thousand Words." at the Region It
Education Service Center syngn-
sium for teachers a January
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