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More on the WBA and VLA
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From: melissa_at_melissa-stewart.com
Date: Fri, 12 Sep 2014 06:45:52 -0400 (EDT)
I took both the WBA and VLS workshops at the Carle last summer and worked what I learned into a school visit program that is extremely popular. Teachers love it because they see how my open-ended questioning about PB illustrations builds the students' critical thinking skills. The kids are really working hard and making incredible discoveries during the workshop.
I agree with Megan's observation: "Even if this doesn't get to the precise "teachable moment" a teacher or librarian or parent might have in mind, I really like the idea of allowing kids to make meaning of what the see on their own terms. So I try (and sometimes fail) to guide children to attend to a certain part of a book but then to back off and let them interpret it how they will."
I have had the same experience with kids going in surprising directions and finding meaning I'm sure the artist never intended. For example, in my book Under the Snow, there is a spread where fish are swimming in a pond under the ice. The text (which I cover so the kids can't read it) explains that some fish stay active all winter, swimming slowly.
The illustrator added the foot of a girl skating on top of the ice to try to bring humans into the scene, to give young readers something to relate to.
But here's what has happened almost every time I show the image to K or 1. One child says the fish look annoyed. Then a second child says the fish are annoyed because the skater is making a lot of noise on the ice. Then a third child says we should only skate at indoor rinks.
The teachers are mystified (and amused) every time, and so was I the first time it happened. But the second time this happened, I really looked at the image closely myself. There are 4 or 5 fish in the image, but if you really look a the fish most in the foreground, something about the way its eye is painted does make it look a little bit annoyed. The kids are absolutely right to pick up on that. And in fact, I love that it means they know how to read feelings. I also love that they realize skating might be noisy from a fish's point of view. That shows empathy.
This is just one example. The truth is doing this activity with kids has taught me a lot about the art in my own books and about the role of nonfiction illustrations in general.
Melissa Stewart
[ www.melissa-stewart.com ]( http://www.melissa-stewart.com )
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Received on Fri 12 Sep 2014 05:46:24 AM CDT
Date: Fri, 12 Sep 2014 06:45:52 -0400 (EDT)
I took both the WBA and VLS workshops at the Carle last summer and worked what I learned into a school visit program that is extremely popular. Teachers love it because they see how my open-ended questioning about PB illustrations builds the students' critical thinking skills. The kids are really working hard and making incredible discoveries during the workshop.
I agree with Megan's observation: "Even if this doesn't get to the precise "teachable moment" a teacher or librarian or parent might have in mind, I really like the idea of allowing kids to make meaning of what the see on their own terms. So I try (and sometimes fail) to guide children to attend to a certain part of a book but then to back off and let them interpret it how they will."
I have had the same experience with kids going in surprising directions and finding meaning I'm sure the artist never intended. For example, in my book Under the Snow, there is a spread where fish are swimming in a pond under the ice. The text (which I cover so the kids can't read it) explains that some fish stay active all winter, swimming slowly.
The illustrator added the foot of a girl skating on top of the ice to try to bring humans into the scene, to give young readers something to relate to.
But here's what has happened almost every time I show the image to K or 1. One child says the fish look annoyed. Then a second child says the fish are annoyed because the skater is making a lot of noise on the ice. Then a third child says we should only skate at indoor rinks.
The teachers are mystified (and amused) every time, and so was I the first time it happened. But the second time this happened, I really looked at the image closely myself. There are 4 or 5 fish in the image, but if you really look a the fish most in the foreground, something about the way its eye is painted does make it look a little bit annoyed. The kids are absolutely right to pick up on that. And in fact, I love that it means they know how to read feelings. I also love that they realize skating might be noisy from a fish's point of view. That shows empathy.
This is just one example. The truth is doing this activity with kids has taught me a lot about the art in my own books and about the role of nonfiction illustrations in general.
Melissa Stewart
[ www.melissa-stewart.com ]( http://www.melissa-stewart.com )
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Received on Fri 12 Sep 2014 05:46:24 AM CDT
