Analyze how visual elements integrate and contribute to the meaning of text

If you see readers who . . .

• read the words and miss important information that is embedded in the pictures.
• read the pictures but interpret them in ways that don't make sense with the words of the story.
• are very literal in their interpretation of what is happening in the pictures and may need help connecting them with the deeper meaning of the text.

Paying attention to and reading the pictures while cross-checking with the words gives the reader a more complete understanding of the text. Since each artist uses specific colors, lines, and shapes to reflect their unique understanding of the text, it is important to tune in to the pictures to see what information the artist is sharing.

Consider reading the pictures alongside the words of the story to make meaning of the text.

Choose a picture book and read the text without showing the pictures. Then lead the students in a discussion of the meaning of what you read. Ask them to predict how the illustrations will look. Next, read the text while showing the pictures. Finally, discuss how the pictures affected students' experience with the text and their understanding of it.

What the illustrator chooses to draw conveys their interpretation of the story.

Now show the class a picture book with no words. Discuss with students the importance of the pictures in this type of story. Then read the book by reading the pictures. Discuss the many different reading strategies we use when we read only the pictures and how they all help us understand the story.

Suggested language:

• How might the illustration contribute to the tone and meaning of the story?
• Based on the illustration, what might the tone of the writing be?
• Based on reading the pictures, what do you predict will happen?
• What is the purpose of the pictures in this story?

Possible ways to differentiate instruction:

• Use picture books with no words, then some with words to practice the importance of looking and seeing what the illustrator brings to help the reader understand the text.
• In their own good-fit books, have students practice reading the pictures. Then combine the tasks of reading the pictures and reading the words to create the connected story.

Reconsider materials, setting, instruction, and cognitive processes.

These strategies may provide support before, during, and after teaching this strategy:

• Check for Understanding; Monitor and Self-Correct
• Cross-Check: Do the Words Look Right? Sound Right? Make Sense?
• Use Prior Knowledge to Predict and Connect with Text
• Make and Adjust Mental Images; Use Text to Confirm