“The use of visual supports in literacy instruction, teachers are sure to…give every student opportunities to hone their skills as listeners, speakers, writers, and readers.”

http://www.paulakluth.com/articles/visual_literacy.html

When reading about visual literacy in this article, I thought of my student teaching experience in a 5th grade classroom. I did a literacy unit on the novel, Maniac Magee and used many different forms of visual tools/representations. For example, we used a story poster, built a human timeline, created a bulletin board, used graphic organizers, and played a power point jeopardy game on the Smartboard. I like how Kluth generalizes visual literacy when she points out that not only can visual strategies be useful for students with disabilities, but also those without. By expanding the strategies teachers use in their classrooms, they are opening learning up to a “wider range of learners.” She gives three great visual strategies; picture books, story kits, and visual notes. Often times as Kluth says, strategies that are primarily meant to help the student with the disability will end up aiding the entire class as well-creating a powerful tool.