We live in a visual world and learning to communicate and to learn by using images & visuals is a skill we all need. Our students consume visual media daily, they communicate with each other via images (Snapchat, Insta, TikTok) and when given a chance to draw or doodle students tend to remember more information.
I have collaborated with several teachers to create projects that combine research + visual literacy, for example, with social studies students selected a pre-colonial civilization and had to create a flyer with 3 unique elements from that culture. See a bad sample and a good sample. With this activity students not only needed to complete research on 3 unique elements they had to figure out how to be selective with the information they were sharing since they had limited space. They had to find images that were appropriate and connected with their topics. They had to use visual literacy and make sure they used fonts/colors that complemented each other. I have also used a combination of images & text to create book reviews. See Sample. We have also done a quick lesson on using mindmaps to take notes. See How to Mindmap. See sample.
Lately, I have been using Adobe Spark to create flyers using their templates because I’m normally not that creative but having something to react to is a great way to help me get started.
