Using ART to TEACH Reading Comprehension

Strategies

SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA KINDERGARTEN CONFERENCE March 2, 2019

Session F08

Presented by Deborah Bergstrom, M.A.

EMAIL: dbergstrom@gmail.com INSTAGRAM @primarycircus

WEBSITE: www.primarycircus.com

OVERVIEW of STRATEGIES

1. Making Connections 2. Questioning 3. Visualizing 4. Inferring 5. Determining Importance 6. Synthesizing

1.  Art makes content more accessible for emerging readers.

2.  Art makes more joyful, engaged learning. 3.  Art encourages students to make connections to

the content. 4.  Art represents abstract concepts in a concrete

way. 5.  Art stimulates higher-level thinking. 6.  Art creates and builds community and allows

students to develop collaborative work skills.

WHY USE ART TO TEACH READING STRATEGIES?

Deborah Bergstrom 2019 Using Art to Teach Reading Comprehension Strategies

STRATEGY #1a: Making Connections ART to ART Mastery Objective: to make connections when observing and discussing two works of art.

Think-Aloud Prompt/Sentence Stems: •  The first painting is like the second painting because . . .

•  The first painting is different from the second painting because . . .

•  I notice �������������� in one painting but not in the other.

•  Both paintings make me think . . .

•  Both paintings make me feel . . .

ART TO ART: Students make comparisons between two works of art.

ART TO SELF: Students compare a work of art to their own lives.

ART TO WORLD: Students connect a work of art to the world around them.

STRATEGY #1: Making Connections

Mary Cassatt Children on the Shore, 1884 Oil on canvas

Jean-Honore Fragonard The Swing, 1767 Oil on canvas

Deborah Bergstrom 2019 Using Art to Teach Reading Comprehension Strategies

STRATEGY #1c: Making Connections ART to WORLD Mastery Objective: to make connections between art works and the community/world around them

Think-Aloud Prompts/Sentence Stems:

•  This reminds me of something I saw on the news where . . .

•  This makes me think of a girl in my neighborhood who . . .

•  This also happens in a place called ������������, except . . .

•  I know that kids at other schools also see/hear/

play/do �������������.

•  This is different from the world today because . . .

STRATEGY #1b: Making Connections ART to SELF Mastery Objective: to make connections between themselves and the artwork of others

Think-Aloud Prompts/Sentence Stems: •  This reminds me of when . . .

•  This makes me think of . . .

•  This is just like . . .

•  This makes me feel . . .

Deborah Bergstrom 2019 Using Art to Teach Reading Comprehension Strategies

Mastery Objective: to create and apply questioning strategies to explore works of art.

Essential Question: How can the creation of deeper-level questions help a viewer understand a work of art?

STRATEGY #2: Questioning

Henri Rousseau Tiger in a Tropical Storm (Surprised!), 1891 Oil on Canvas

Surface Questions:

•  Involve Facts

•  Yes or No Questions •  Who? What? Where? When?

•  Quick to answer

•  Easily answered by looking at the painting

Deep Questions:

•  Ideas: Facts + Opinions

•  Why? How? •  Require longer answers

•  Involves critical thinking

•  Can require background knowledge or the artist to answer

Deborah Bergstrom 2019 Using Art to Teach Reading Comprehension Strategies

Mastery Objective: to work with partners to verbally describe a work of art while their partner visualizes a mental picture and then draws it.

Essential Question: How can creating visual images in our minds help us to better understand a work of art? How does making pictures in our minds during reading help understand the story?

STRATEGY #3: Visualizing

Paul Cezanne Still Life with Apples, 1890 Oil on canvas Deborah Bergstrom 2019

Using Art to Teach Reading Comprehension Strategies

Mastery Objective: to make inferences when looking at works of art, and to make inferences when listening to a story.

Essential Question: How do artists use color and facial expressions to tell the mood and the “story” in the painting? How does the strategy of inferring help us to understand a piece of art?

STRATEGY #4: Inferring

Clues (in the painting/

text)

Connections (background knowledge)

Inference + =

“Reading between the lines.”

Questions to prompt inference-based observations: •  What time of day is it?

•  What time of the year is it?

•  What do you think happened right before the moment in this picture?

•  What do you think will happen in the moment that comes next?

•  How do you think the subject of the picture/photo is feeling?

Follow up question to any/all responses: “What makes you think that?”

Joseph Ducreux Self-Portrait, Yawning, 1783

Deborah Bergstrom 2019 Using Art to Teach Reading Comprehension Strategies

STRATEGY #5: Determining Importance

Mastery Objectives: to determine what is important when looking at works of art; to determine important information in nonfiction text.

Essential Questions: How do you determine what is important in a work of art? How do text features help us determine what is important in text? How does asking questions help us determine what is important in text? How does determining important information help us change our thinking?

Foreground Middle Ground Background Large objects The most detail Closest to the viewer More vibrant color Lowest on the picture plane (usually)

Medium-sized objects Some detail Center of the picture plane

Small objects Not much detail Far away from the viewer Muted colors Highest on the picture plane (usually)

Gregory Frank Harris A Golden Harvest, 1953 Oil on Canvas

Deborah Bergstrom 2019 Using Art to Teach Reading Comprehension Strategies

STRATEGY #6: Synthesizing

Think Aloud Prompts:

•  I think the author wanted me to learn . . .

•  This story made me think about something new, such as . . . •  Now I understand �������������� better after reading this because . . .

•  Before I read, I thought ���������������, but now I think . . . .

•  The text is mainly about . . . .

Synthesis: collecting and organizing information over time to develop big ideas.

Applying the strategy of synthesis to art and reading requires children to look at the various parts of an artwork or text and put them together to make a whole. Children move from making literal observations in a piece of artwork to building meaning. Synthesizing allows children to move from what they see, to developing new ideas about its meaning.

Abstract Art Synthesis Process: •  discuss the elements of art and principles of design, •  examine those parts of the artwork, •  create meaning using those parts.

Realistic Art Synthesis Process: •  discuss the characters, setting, and action, •  use observations of theme, subject matter, mood, and style to create the big ideas of the artwork.

For deeper meaning, learn about the artist’s background and culture.

Mastery Objective: to be able to retell or synthesize what they have read, to respond to texts in a variety of ways (oral, visual, written), and use knowledge of the story to make decisions about the meaning of the text.

Essential Questions: How does creating a visual representation help me understand concepts? What do good readers do to deepen their understanding of what they have read?

Deborah Bergstrom 2019 Using Art to Teach Reading Comprehension Strategies