What Do Good Readers Do?

As an art educator, I would use a combination of thinking strategies for reading and writing for my students, as they would be designed for various grade levels, as I teach K-12 students.  The Culture-Based Art Education (CBAE) curriculum I design will include literature that will be based specifically on their grade level, cultural background, community and school environment, and their interests.

I enjoyed both articles by Bill Meyer and Keene & Zimmerman as they showed me some areas I will focus on more readily when it comes to incorporating their strategies into my teaching style.  As a professional, I have used many of these strategies in the past, which made it easier for me to understand if the text was very technical.  When sensory imaging was added to the list of skills, it opened an avenue to how children learn visually, or explain themselves in the same manner.

These are some of the strategies I will use in teaching art education:

            Frayer Model  - “A word categorization activity.  Learners develop their understanding of concepts by studying them in a relational manner.”

Semantic Mapping – “A visual tool that helps readers activate and draw on prior knowledge, recognize components of different concepts, and see the relationships among these components.”

            Character Maps – “One good way to better understand the characters in a story is to make a character map.  The visual image created by such a drawing enhances understanding and promotes retention.”

            Story Mapping Through Circular Pictures – “Offers learners a visual representation of the events in a story, in the order they occurred.”

            Graphic Organizer – “Provide a visual, holistic representation of facts and concepts, and the relationships that link them together."

I believe I can incorporate these thinking and learning strategies into my teaching art education to my students K-12, as I am in the process of developing curriculum and these approaches will work well for my students.

    

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         Male Storyteller