Resources - Lesson Plans and Web Links
Books That Pop (Art and Math) - "Paper engineering meets the principles of design."
Crayola YouTube Channel
Dick Blick Lesson Plans and How to Videos
Digital Storytelling (Lesson Plans and Ideas) -
Educational Uses
"Digital Storytelling as an Effective Instructional Tool for Teachers - There are numerous ways that Digital Storytelling can be used in education. One of the first decisions to be made when deciding to use this tool in the curriculum is whether an instructor will create the Digital Stories or have their students do it. Some educators may decide to create their own stories and show them to their students as a way to present new material. An engaging, multimedia-rich digital story can sever as an anticipatory set or hook to capture the attention of students and increasing their interest in exploring new ideas.
Teacher-created digital stories may also be used to enhance current lessons within a larger unit, as a way to facilitate discussion about the topics presented a story and as a way of making abstract or conceptual content more understandable. While many educators still lack a cohesive plan for integrating multimedia into their instruction, a growing number of teachers are interested in exploring ways to engage their students by including images, audio and video elements in their instruction. Research has shown that the use of multimedia in teaching helps students retain new information as well as aids in the comprehension of difficult material. And Digital Storytelling can provide educators with a powerful tool to use in their classrooms."
Digital Storytelling Rubric Example
Fuel The Brain - Fuel the Brain was created to provide free and inexpensive resources to elementary educators. The website was launched in February of 2009 with two games and ten printables. Since then we have added numerous games, printables, interactives and more.
Fun Brain (Teacher's Home) -Funbrain, created for kids ages preschool through grade 8, offers more than 100 fun, interactive games that develop skills in math, reading, and literacy. Plus, kids can read a variety of popular books and comics on the site, including Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Amelia Writes Again, and Brewster Rocket.
Get Images/Video - Tips For Finding Great Images
Kids Think Design - Kids Design Collaborative is a non-profit design resource dedicated to the education and inspiration of future designers.
Life on The Screen - Visual Literacy in Education - The visionary filmmaker (George Lucus) argues that students must learn a new language of image and sound in order to succeed.
Periodic Table of Visualization Methods - The periodic table used to convey various aspects of Visualization Methods - Each "element" has a sublink expounding on the individual aspects.
Pinterest - My Pinterest Boards (jengreenarted)
Read Write Think - Here at ReadWriteThink, our mission is to provide educators, parents, and afterschool professionals with access to the highest quality practices in reading and language arts instruction by offering the very best in free materials. Arts themed Lesson Plans
Smartboard Games - Pinterest Page full of ideas, concepts, and software for using a Smartboard (iphones, ipads, tablets, etc. in lesson plans)
Teacher Resources, Library of Congress - The Library of Congress offers classroom materials and professional development to help teachers effectively use primary sources from the Library's vast digital collections in their teaching. (Searchable by Common Core, State Content and Organization)
Find Library of Congress lesson plans and more that meet Common Core standards, state content standards, and the standards of national organizations.
The Visual Literacy Toolbox: Learning to Read Images - Introduction: Visual literacy is a multi-faceted subject matter, and faculty wishing to include images in their curriculum can quickly find themselves overwhelmed by the prospect of addressing visual literacy. For an introduction to the topic visit The Basics of Visual Literacy: Form, Context and Content. The following tools are intended to help faculty customize their curricula to incorporate visual literacy in ways that suit their individual instructional needs. Some faculty may want to teach visual literacy as a one-time in- or out-of-class activity. Others may want to teach visual literacy as multi-week or semester-long elements of their courses.
Each one of the following tools can stand alone, or they can be combined with one another to build a customized visual literacy curriculum that suits your needs:
University of Edinburgh - Links to Image Databases
Visual Literacy, How Do I Make Meaning - "When your teachers were at school the process of reading was understood to be the deciphering of words on a page to understand what the writer was trying to say.
You now have to be much more skilful readers. In the world today, reading encompasses a whole new range of critical and creative skills. Without possibly realizing it, you take in a lot of information just from looking at still and moving images. As users of the Internet, you read in quite a different way from the linear process of words on a page. There are many different elements used to attract your attention: colour fonts and background, moving text and images and flashing icons all work to convey a message. As well, you are taking in other layered messages through the use of semiotics like the NIKE swoosh and, at the same time, creating your own language via text messaging.
In using this website, you will be focusing on learning the skills needed to create a visual text; in this case, a short movie. You will learn about all the elements that go into making a movie. You will then be able to apply those skills to make your own movie that creates the meaning you want for your viewer."
Visual Thinking - "Our brains are wired to rapidly make sense of and remember visual input. Visualizations in the form of diagrams, charts, drawings, pictures, and a variety of other ways can help students understand complex information. A well-designed visual image can yield a much more powerful and memorable learning experience than a mere verbal or textual description."
You will find resources for integrating visual thinking in your teaching. You’ll find ideas for enhancing your presentations and for incorporating visual thinking in your students’ in- and out-of-class activities.
Crayola YouTube Channel
Dick Blick Lesson Plans and How to Videos
Digital Storytelling (Lesson Plans and Ideas) -
Educational Uses
"Digital Storytelling as an Effective Instructional Tool for Teachers - There are numerous ways that Digital Storytelling can be used in education. One of the first decisions to be made when deciding to use this tool in the curriculum is whether an instructor will create the Digital Stories or have their students do it. Some educators may decide to create their own stories and show them to their students as a way to present new material. An engaging, multimedia-rich digital story can sever as an anticipatory set or hook to capture the attention of students and increasing their interest in exploring new ideas.
Teacher-created digital stories may also be used to enhance current lessons within a larger unit, as a way to facilitate discussion about the topics presented a story and as a way of making abstract or conceptual content more understandable. While many educators still lack a cohesive plan for integrating multimedia into their instruction, a growing number of teachers are interested in exploring ways to engage their students by including images, audio and video elements in their instruction. Research has shown that the use of multimedia in teaching helps students retain new information as well as aids in the comprehension of difficult material. And Digital Storytelling can provide educators with a powerful tool to use in their classrooms."
Digital Storytelling Rubric Example
Fuel The Brain - Fuel the Brain was created to provide free and inexpensive resources to elementary educators. The website was launched in February of 2009 with two games and ten printables. Since then we have added numerous games, printables, interactives and more.
Fun Brain (Teacher's Home) -Funbrain, created for kids ages preschool through grade 8, offers more than 100 fun, interactive games that develop skills in math, reading, and literacy. Plus, kids can read a variety of popular books and comics on the site, including Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Amelia Writes Again, and Brewster Rocket.
Get Images/Video - Tips For Finding Great Images
Kids Think Design - Kids Design Collaborative is a non-profit design resource dedicated to the education and inspiration of future designers.
Life on The Screen - Visual Literacy in Education - The visionary filmmaker (George Lucus) argues that students must learn a new language of image and sound in order to succeed.
Periodic Table of Visualization Methods - The periodic table used to convey various aspects of Visualization Methods - Each "element" has a sublink expounding on the individual aspects.
Pinterest - My Pinterest Boards (jengreenarted)
Read Write Think - Here at ReadWriteThink, our mission is to provide educators, parents, and afterschool professionals with access to the highest quality practices in reading and language arts instruction by offering the very best in free materials. Arts themed Lesson Plans
Smartboard Games - Pinterest Page full of ideas, concepts, and software for using a Smartboard (iphones, ipads, tablets, etc. in lesson plans)
Teacher Resources, Library of Congress - The Library of Congress offers classroom materials and professional development to help teachers effectively use primary sources from the Library's vast digital collections in their teaching. (Searchable by Common Core, State Content and Organization)
Find Library of Congress lesson plans and more that meet Common Core standards, state content standards, and the standards of national organizations.
The Visual Literacy Toolbox: Learning to Read Images - Introduction: Visual literacy is a multi-faceted subject matter, and faculty wishing to include images in their curriculum can quickly find themselves overwhelmed by the prospect of addressing visual literacy. For an introduction to the topic visit The Basics of Visual Literacy: Form, Context and Content. The following tools are intended to help faculty customize their curricula to incorporate visual literacy in ways that suit their individual instructional needs. Some faculty may want to teach visual literacy as a one-time in- or out-of-class activity. Others may want to teach visual literacy as multi-week or semester-long elements of their courses.
Each one of the following tools can stand alone, or they can be combined with one another to build a customized visual literacy curriculum that suits your needs:
- Online Activities: a complilation of online activities contributed by faculty.
- Activity Plans: activities and lesson plans contributed by faculty teaching with images.
- Bank of Questions: a variety of entry points for exploring the components of visual literacy.
- Learning Objectives: suggested strategies for using Toolbox elements to interpret, translate, construct and apply images.
University of Edinburgh - Links to Image Databases
Visual Literacy, How Do I Make Meaning - "When your teachers were at school the process of reading was understood to be the deciphering of words on a page to understand what the writer was trying to say.
You now have to be much more skilful readers. In the world today, reading encompasses a whole new range of critical and creative skills. Without possibly realizing it, you take in a lot of information just from looking at still and moving images. As users of the Internet, you read in quite a different way from the linear process of words on a page. There are many different elements used to attract your attention: colour fonts and background, moving text and images and flashing icons all work to convey a message. As well, you are taking in other layered messages through the use of semiotics like the NIKE swoosh and, at the same time, creating your own language via text messaging.
In using this website, you will be focusing on learning the skills needed to create a visual text; in this case, a short movie. You will learn about all the elements that go into making a movie. You will then be able to apply those skills to make your own movie that creates the meaning you want for your viewer."
Visual Thinking - "Our brains are wired to rapidly make sense of and remember visual input. Visualizations in the form of diagrams, charts, drawings, pictures, and a variety of other ways can help students understand complex information. A well-designed visual image can yield a much more powerful and memorable learning experience than a mere verbal or textual description."
You will find resources for integrating visual thinking in your teaching. You’ll find ideas for enhancing your presentations and for incorporating visual thinking in your students’ in- and out-of-class activities.