We all want our children to become capable of understanding and analyzing the images that are
immersed in their moments of awakening. Here comes the relevance of visual literacy which
comes with the purpose of teaching a set of skills comprehensively that will help students to
think, reflect and evaluate the images.

What do you mean by Visual Literacy?
The phrase visual literacy was first made up by John Debes in the late 1960s. According to his
definition, the term defines the capability to distinguish and infer the perceptible objects, actions,
normal or artificial, symbols – that he comes across in his surroundings.
In common terms, visual literacy is defined as the ability to interpret and understand visual texts
where “texts” is defined as any visual element print, as well as works of art, websites, picture books, advertising or any other element that can be visually inferred. In the visual world visual skills today are increasingly important for children to learn. There are many ways you can teach visual literacy and reflect the visual interpretation of fun and creative
ways in your library or in the classroom.
Why Visual Literacy is important for children?
Children must master the visual skills before they begin developing the skills to speak, according
to the theory of development and research. Some theorists even claim that skills of visualization
are a necessary basis of speech and reading skills for later. After birth a child is compelled after
looking at the world to recognize objects and make sense of whatever he or she is seeing.
Mother and father’s faces become separate objects; other than themselves children learn to
differentiate and recognize the unique characteristics of those things that eventually allow them
to identify that substance. Child development is directly linked to the skill of being
able to identify and understand these kinds of symbols. By talking and reading, the ability is
gained to learn and assess the symbols and verbal clues.
In numerous ways the importance of visual literacy can be cited:
●Kids learn to assess the art and visual media that they encounter in their daily life if
they are taught visual literacy.

●A deeper relation with texts of all kinds is enabled by visual literacy and this also
initiates the analytical thinking process about demonstration and connotation.

●Even for older children, the facts illustrate how art and text interact and understanding afterwards that letting the readers visualize while they read will be very beneficial. It is a key to become an expert in this and satisfaction of reading will go a long way.

●By teaching knowledgeable sensitivity of works of art, you can teach children how all
visual media can be perceived to becoming more cynical and learned audiences,
including advertising. For example, the way some practices arouse emotions or specific
effects.
How you can teach Visual Literacy

The Think-Aloud Strategy:
This strategy is generally used to model how proficient readers can make sense of a text. Text can be customized for the reading of a visual work of art.

The Visual Thinking Strategies (VTS):

This approach involves specifically the whole class to see and talk about art. VTS encourages
students to think more than just the literal and they discuss by using metaphors, multiple
meanings and symbols.

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The Literal Phase of Observation:

Give students a copy of a significant picture. To help learners internalize the picture, tell them to
study it for a minute before turning and even jot a version of memory. Next, have students write what they literally observe in the image.

The Phase of Interpretation:

After copying all of the descriptions generated by the students, paste them into ‘Tagxedo’. After that, initiate the collaborative word cloud of the results for the class to view. While doing the periodic review of the photo, invite students to interpret the word cloud. After this, ask students to help you summarize the conversation.

The Phase of Evaluation and Application:
In this strategy, tell the students to write clearly about the relevance of the image on note-cards.
After that, take the cards and pin around the photo to create an immediate bulletin board.

The students accepted the authority of the creator and received his/her message as a window on
reality when reading was taught the traditional way through printed texts. However, in the 21st
century, students need to question the authority of the author with due respect, to express what is
embodied and how is it occurring, deduce what was excluded and why.

Author Bio:

Lisa Rose  has penned down multiple education blogs and articles. Apart from being
an educationalist, she is also a consultant for the business and management students rendering
them valuable assignment writing service.