Taking a Look at the Picture of Literacy

After reading Concept muraling: Dropping visual crumbs along the instructional trail, I took some time to reflect about what was said in the article about children being pulled towards images they recognize and how that can be applied to my life.

Concept muraling is a a way that teachers can use direct instructional in order to represent the teachings in a visual way.   Within the article, the authors site a quote:

"sight is swift, comprehensive, simultaneously analytic and synthetic... it permits our minds to receive and hold an infinite number of items of information in a fraction of a second."

Reading this quote made me realize that "seeing" is a huge part of literacy.  Yes, we all need sight to see the words we read or write, but I mean "seeing" in the sense of pictures, signs, and other forms of representing words.  As a child before beginning school, I knew that a big sign that was red with white letters was a stop sign even though I didn't know the word "STOP" was written on it.  Just looking at it, I was able to recognize what it was saying by its meaning.  The same goes for any other environmental print.  I was able to associate the big double arched sign with it being a representation of McDonald's.

For students who may have significant disabilities, providing them instruction with the use of pictures could make a difference of them being "dis-abled" instead of "disabled", giving them the opportunity to achieve and excel in school and in life.  Using the approach of concept muraling can not only be beneficial for students with significant disabilities, but also students who may be more of a visual learner.  I have always considered myself to be visual, auditory, and kinesthetic; however, depending on the subject area, I can be more of a visual learner.  For instance, when it comes to science and learning different stages within a cycle, it is more beneficial for me to see pictures of the events occurring rather than reading or hearing about them.  I am most likely to remember what was taught if it can be visually represented.  

Another strong characteristic of concept muraling, is its structure and organization it provides.  If anyone knows me, they know that I need structure and I am extremely organized.  I find myself always trying to reorganize and categorize something to make things more easy to locate and to find better ways to have things placed.

Concept muraling is a great way to provide differentiating instruction within your classroom whether you work with students with significant disabilities or not.  It's always a great idea to implement a wide array of approached to teaching to keep students involved, eager to learn, and attentive.