Supporting the Development of Multiple Literacies through the Arts

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Supporting the Development of Multiple Literacies
through the Arts Suzanne Rose Slippery Rock
University of PA ACEI March 2009
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What is literacy?
Literacy is the ability to make and share meaning
through all the sign systems, including art,
music, mathematics, movement, drama and language
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Semiotics

• Semiotics is the study of SIGNS.
• A sign is something that stands for something
  else.
• There are three kinds of signs 
• symbols--signs that bear an ARBITRARY
  RELATIONSHIP to that which they stand for (e.g.,
  the word "apple" by convention stands for the
  fruit we identify with the word). 
• 2. icons--signs RESEMBLING that which they stand
  for (e.g., a painting of an apple looks like the
  fruit it represents). 
• 3. indexes--signs that are INDICATORS of a fact
  or condition (e.g., a chest pain can indicate
  heartburn smoke usually indicates fire). 

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Semiotics
There are three basic areas of semiotics semantic
s pragmatics syntactics.
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Semantics
SEMANTICS deals with the MEANINGS OF SIGNS AND
SIGN SYSTEMS (meanings of words, sentences,
gestures, paintings, mathematical symbols,
etc.) Semantics attempts to specify the cultural
definitions of all kinds of signs and sign
combinations.
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Pragmatics
PRAGMATICS deals with INFERENTIAL MEANING not
merely logical inference, but the subtler
aspects of communication expressed through
indirection ("It's drafty in here" "Close the
door") and through social contexts (as when a
threat is understood as horseplay among boasting
friends).
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Syntactics
SYNTACTICS deals with the STRUCTURE of signs
and sign systems (such as the structure of a
sentence, novel, film, fugue, or ceremony).
Linguistic syntactics (phonology, morphology,
and syntax) is best known by teachers, but
semiotics also deals with the "syntax" of
nonlinguistic sign systems. 
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Semiotics Language Arts
Reading and writing are not mere message
transmission but complex response processes in
which the readers and writers cooperate in
creating meanings (Beach, 1990 Harste, et al.,
1984). The student's background knowledge,
(his/her entire repertoire of life experience)
determines the qualities of meaning derived from
a text.
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Semiotics Language Arts
All existing school subjects and even subjects
not yet formulated are ways of organizing signs.

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Semiotics Language Arts
A semiotics-based curriculum would seek to help
children to "develop as symbol users" (Dyson,
1986, p. 800). It would encourage students to
talk about the paintings and music they produce,
to create collages expressing the themes of
novels and plays, to write about the things they
see under microscopes, and to engage in a
variety of purposeful cross-media activities. 
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Transmediation
Is the process of taking understandings created
in one sign system (such as language) and
moving them into another sign system (such as
drama)
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Transmediation
Allows students to create new ideas so that their
understandings become more complex. Causes
students to use sign systems as tools for
thinking about a text and for sharing it with
others.
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Intertextuality

• focuses on the
• CONNECTIONS
• between
• TEXTS
• For example
• How are the texts similar?
• How do they differ?
• How is the content presented in one text
  different than the content presented in another
  text? What makes it different?

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Intertextuality
the potentially complex ways in which
meaningsare constructed through relationships
to other texts and genre --New London Group
(1996)
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Intertextuality
Keene and Zimmerman (1997) concluded that
students comprehend better when they make
different kinds of connections Text-to-self
Text-to-text Text-to-world
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Text Connections
Text-to-self highly personal connections that
a reader makes between a piece of reading
material and the readers own experiences/life
Example "This story reminds me of a vacation
we took to my grandfathers farm."
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Text Connections
Text-to-self Examples of questions that can be
used to facilitate student text-to-self
connections What does this remind me of in my
life? What is this similar to in my life? How
is this different from my life? Has something
like this ever happened to me?How does this
relate to my life?What were my feelings when I
read this?
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Text Connections
Text-to-Text Connections occur when readers are
reminded of other things that they have read,
other books by the same author, stories from a
similar genre, or on the same topic. Readers
gain insight during reading by thinking
about how the information they are reading
connects to other familiar text. This
character has the same problem that I read about
in (story name) last year, would be an example
of a text-to-text connection.
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Text Connections
Text-to-text Examples of questions that can be
used to facilitate student text-to-self
connections What does this remind me of
in another book Ive
read? How is this text similar to other things
Ive read? How is this different from other
books Ive read? Have I read about something
like this before?
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Text Connections

• Text-to-world
• the larger connections that a reader brings to
  reading
• ideas about how the world works that go beyond
  our own personal experiences.
• Example
• "I saw a program on television that talked about
  things described in this article."

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Text Connections
Text-to-world Below are some examples of
questions that can be used to facilitate student
text-to-self connections What does this remind
me of in the real world?How is this text similar
to things that happen in the real world?
How is this different from things that happen
in the real world? How did that part
relate to the world around me?
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Why study the arts to support literacy
development?
The writer starts with vision and ends with
words. The reader starts with the words of the
writer and ends with vision. The senses feed
imagination, and imagination provides the content
for representation. We experience the
representation and through it acquire the vision.
The arts, when well taught, are fundamental in
refining sensibility and cultivating the capacity
to think imaginatively. (Eisner, 2003, p. 342)
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Why study the arts to support literacy
development?
The term language can be conceptualized to
refer to the use of any form of representation in
which meaning is conveyed or construed.
(Eisner, 1994) Literacy itself can be
thought of not as limited to what the tongue
can articulate but what the mind can grasp.
Thus, in this sense, dance, music, and the
visual arts are languages through which both
meaning and mind are promoted. (Eisner, 2003,
p. 342)
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Why study the arts to support literacy
development?
Each of the arts uses similar processes to those
we use for reading and writing. The thought
processes are the same the difference is in the
symbols that are used.
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Visual Arts Activities
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Add A Page Examine an assigned book. Closely look
at the artists style, use of visual elements and
media. Read the text. Add a page to the text,
duplicating the artists style as much as
possible and adding text that is consistent with
the rest of the story.
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Add A Page Suggested Texts Where Once There
Was a Wood The Desert Is Theirs Mouse
Paint Circus
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Add A Page Examples
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Add A Page Examples
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Add A Page Examples
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Unlikely Pairs Unlikely Pairs Fun with Famous
Works of Art by Bob Raczka
Soap Bubbles (Jean-Baptiste Simeon-Chardin)
Several Circles (Vasily Kandinsky)
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Unlikely Pairs Activity After sharing the book
with the students, have them develop their own
Unlikely Pairs. The following slides show some
pairs that were developed by students.
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Unlikely Pairs Example
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Unlikely Pairs Example
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Model Picture Books Use picture books to help
students relate the type of illustrations, media
and colors used with the tone and feeling of the
stories.
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West Point Day
by Thomas Locker
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Perspective/Point of View Relate artists use of
perspective with authors voice Example
texts The Jazz Fly Abuela Golem
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Perspective/Point of View Have students look for
an item portrayed differently in various art
works and describe how each portrayal changes the
message about the object.
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Escape
by Edward Raymes
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Jeweled Tree I
by Natasha Wescoat
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Tree Photograph by Ansel Adams
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Text-to-Text Connections!
Write a sentence describing each tree. How are
they all the same? How are they different? How
does the artist achieve the feeling of the image?
(color, line, etc.)
Explore artistic elements by looking at each
image and discussing the artists style.
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Text/Art Sets Pair texts with artworks that are
related Similar style of
illustration ex. The Great Kapok Tree
Welcome to the Greenhouse
paired with Rousseaus Exotic Landscape
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Rousseaus Exotic Landscape
The Great Kapok Tree
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Text/Art Sets Pair texts with artworks that are
related Art inspired by literature ex. The
Great Fire (Wm. Carlos Williams) inspired the
artwork I saw the figure 5 in gold
(Charles Demuth)
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The Great Fire William Carlos Williams Among the
rain and lights I saw the
figure 5 in gold on a red
firetruck moving
tense unheeded to gong
clangs siren howls and wheels
rumbling through the dark city.
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Color Shape as Language Discuss how the use of
color and shape by an artist influences the
emotional tone of a work Examples Golem
(Wisniewski)
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Mit und Gegen by Wasily Kandinsky
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Fate of the Animals
by Franz Marc
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After students begin to understand the
relationships between color/shape and emotion,
move on to additional activities

• Story Interpretation Activity
• a. Read a story aloud to the students without
  showing them the illustrations
• b. Students paint or draw a picture that tells
  the story BUT they cannot use any recognizable
  objects in their drawings
• The goal is to get them to focus on shape and
  color to portray the events and feeling of the
  story

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Write the Story of the Picture a. Show students
works of art and have them write the story that
is being portrayed by the pictures b. Stress
that they are to use the artists use of color
and shape to help them understand the story
behind the picture Examples by Joan Miro
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Frida by the Gulf by Frida Kahlo
The next two slides tell two versions of the
story of this painting
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Frida by the Gulf Frida had been in pain all
day because of a chronic injury due an accident
several years ago. She and Diego had argued
again last night before he left on a weeks
assignment to do a painting for a client. She
slammed the door behind him and stomped back the
hall to the kitchen. After drinking several
glasses of red wine, she went to bed mad. This
morning she began a new self-portrait that would
illustrate all of the pain that she was
experiencing physically and mentally as well as
the misery she has suffered during her marriage.
She finished part of the portrait and was pleased
with it, but quit after a few hours because of a
nagging headache. The weather was cooler now
and she decided to take her sketchpad along with
her to the beach. Feeling that the soothing
sound of the waves and the slight breeze might
calm her anxieties, she set off for a leisurely
walk along the waters edge. After a few
minutes, she placed the sketchpad onto the sand
next to a crab that scurried over the cover in an
attempt to get away. She ran her fingers through
her hair and tightened the bun that was fixed at
the nape of her neck. As she placed the
sketchpad back under her arm, she glanced back at
the house. The candles in the window began to
glow warmly as the evening advanced. She
wondered if Diego was thinking about her
wondered if her portrait would be good enough to
sell and she wondered if her pain would ever end.
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Frida by the Gulf I was feeling very trapped
at home. I really needed a place to go and
something to do. I was really confused with why
he left but I knew that he had to. I went to the
beach to clear my head. Drawing and painting
have always been a part of me. I havent drawn
in a very long time. Ever since I had gotten
married and moved into my beautiful house near
town. It was always so noisy that I could not
read, draw, or think sometimes. He left and now
I feel alone and it got even quieter. I sit near
the water watching the waves and drawing and
start to feel some excitement and happiness. The
water is so free and wild and it draws me in. I
dont know if I will ever feel free and wild
again. Maybe when he returns I will feel happy
again.
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Read books where the story and the pictures dont
match a. Read the story aloud without showing
the pictures. b. Read the story again, showing
the pictures. c. Read the story, page by page
examining the correspondence between the picture
and the text. Examples Tough Boris Rosies Walk
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Read Round Trip (Jonas) and discuss the way the
illustrations can be interpreted in different
ways depending upon your perspective.
In this amazing book, the illustrations form
different scenes when you flip the book. You read
the book from front to back, then flip it over
for the Round Trip and all the same
illustrations now appear to be different
scenes! See the sample illustration on the next
page.
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Read Round Trip (Jonas)
Then we saw the city.
We looked back. Searchlights pierced the sky.
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Books with Artistic Characters Share books whose
main characters are artists Examples Artistic
Characters The Starry Night Annas Art
Adventure Me Uncle Romie Art Dog
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Explore Visual Arts with Literacy
Themes Examples I Love the Look of Words by
Maya Angelou and visual artwork from Soul
Looks Back in Wonder By Tom Feelings
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Explore Visual Arts with Literacy Themes
I Love the Look of WordsPopcorn leaps, popping
from the floorof a hot black skilletand into my
mouth. Black words leap,snapping from the
whitepage. Rushing into my eyes. SlidingInto my
brain which gobbles themthe way my tongue and
teethchomp the buttered popcorn. When I have
stopped reading,ideas from the words stay
stuckin my mind, like the sweetsmell of butter
perfuming myfingers long after the popcornis
finished. I love the book and the look of
wordsthe weight of ideas that popped into my
mindI love the tracksof new thinking in my
mind. -Maya Angelou
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Explore Visual Arts with Literacy Themes Many
paintings have literacy themes.
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Explore Visual Arts with Literacy Themes Have
students suggest titles of books that the
pictured individuals may be reading and write a
justification for their selections.
What books are these people reading? How do you
know?
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Explore Visual Arts with Literacy Themes
What books are these people reading? How do you
know? Sample Responses
The woman, perhaps sitting in her outdoor garden,
appears to be reading Harpers Bazaar, Americas
first fashion magazine. She appears to be very
engrossed in what she is reading perhaps it is
the Victorian Elegance era (1898-1912) during
which the womens suffrage movement was gaining
momentum. Even though it looks like she may be
reading a newspaper, I think it is the newspaper
design format of Harpers Bazaar which was used
until 1901. By her outward appearance and
presence, the woman appears to be a member of the
upper-middle class or upper class, the groups to
which this particular publication was aimed.
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Explore Visual Arts with Literacy Themes
What books are these people reading? How do you
know? Sample Responses
The figure in the first picture is reading the
Brainiest Insaniest Puzzle Book by Robert
Leighton. He wants to know if the puzzle in
which he is captured is the best one ever.
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Explore Visual Arts with Literacy Themes
What books are these people reading? How do you
know? Sample Responses
The little boy in the second picture is reading
very intently, probably in a classroom setting.
By putting his hands on his head it looks as
though hes struggling to comprehend what hes
reading or he could just be really into it. I
would say hes reading Oliver Twist based on the
way the little boy is dressed, which is
reminiscent of the time period. He also kind of
reminds me of the character Oliver Twist, but I
dont think he could read!
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Explore Visual Arts with Literacy Themes Write
the letter . . .
Activity Select one of the paintings. Write the
letter that is in the painting. Then explain WHY
you wrote that letter.
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Write the letter . . . Sample Responses
Dear Madam Briet, I feel I must write to you to
tell you how inspired I am after having read the
Letters of Helisenne de Crenne, which I have come
to believe are your own personal writings. Being
of the opinion that women have the capacity, and
certainly the ability, to perform in the public
as well as men, I was especially impressed with
how you addressed the misogynistic literature
that has been published by so many male writers
in our country. Please be encouraged to continue
to create writing that will become instruments to
further the enhancement of womankind. I do not
believe that I am alone in my belief that women
can and should, have the opportunity to become
educated, as well as play a major role in
Frances society. Your faithful
supporter, Camille Why? I chose to write this
particular letter because I thought that the
woman in the painting looked like she may have
lived in France during the Renaissance. I
decided she could have been a Renaissance
feminist during this period and was eager to make
contact with another feminist, especially since
equality feminism was considered radical back in
the 1520s and 30s. I also thought she had a
kind of look of satisfaction on her face that
implied a reserved excitement about her feminist
passion.
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Write the letter . . . Sample Responses
Dear Amy I sit and write to you as I wait for
my parents to finish discussing my future. I
simply cant imagine marrying Trevor not now or
ever. The most frustrating part of the whole
situation is that I feel, deep down, that Mother
understands where I stand and what I feel in my
heart. Do you know I feel she is unhappy with
father at times? I see glimpses of sadness
around her more and more as I grow older. Of
course, understanding wont provide her with the
courage to stand up to father, but I feel its
more than that I sometimes feel shes envious of
my position. I feel that she wants the same
options and opportunities that are being
presented to me. Still and all, I sense a rift
between us, a rift placed there by siding with my
fathers insistence. I feel, no I know, that I
have no choice. I cant be reconciled to living
out my life with a man I dont love I cant bear
the thought of creating and raising children with
that man. I cant bear to cut my education
short. I need to continue on at college and I
shall make it somehow. Dean Harwell spoke to me
last semester of a scholarship, so even if I am
disowned, I shall continue on someway. I hear
footsteps the time of reckoning has come. Write
me soon dearest Amy. Fondly, Sarah I chose to
write the letter of the young woman in the second
painting. Her letter is about going against her
parents wishes and refusing to marry the man
they have selected for her. She instead writes
about continuing on in college, even if it means
they will cut off all support of her. I feel
that the woman in the painting could be a young
woman from the early 1900s. Her surroundings
suggest some wealth, but her posture, her bare
feet, and her expression made me feel like she
was somewhat fed up with the life she was living
she appeared to me to be a little progressive and
a little unconventional and maybe a little ahead
of her time. Although shes surrounded with all
these lovely colors and soft prints, her body
looks strong. She looked to me like she wasnt
relaxing and writing a friendly letter, but
poised to make an important decision.
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Write the letter . . . Sample Responses
November 6, 1941 Dear Mrs. Chesley, Im sorry
to inform you that Mr. Charles Chesley died in
the line of duty on November 3, 1941. He was a
very brave man heroic in our time of need, and
while I know the government will notify you
personally, I wanted to inform you of this
tragedy myself. Our camp was attacked a day
before he met his fate, and we were surrounded by
the Germans. There was one opening of hope, and
that was for one soldier to ride off and tell a
distant camp to come for backup. Since no one
was volunteering, my new friend and your husband
saddled up and rode off, but was too late. They
surrounded us, and him, and he wasnt able to
notify our neighboring camp. Peace be with you,
Mrs. Chesley, in this tough time. Mr. Chesley
was a fine man and a good friend to me during the
war. You should be very proud of him and I hope
your memories of him never grow
old. Sincerely, Mr. Jack Crosby, friend of the
late Mr. Charles Chesley
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Music and Literacy
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Music Activities
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Text/Music Sets Supporting Comprehension with
Music -music triggers an emotional response
that makes comprehension/recall more
probable -relates to intertextuality
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Text/Music Sets Examples Text Coming
Home Music Hesitation Blues
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Text/Music Sets Examples Text Chatos
Kitchen Music Lost in Mexico
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Text/Music Sets Examples Music/Text In the
Hollow of Your Hand Every Little Bit Text Tar
Beach
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Perspective/Point of View Analyze music inspired
by other music -different artists or composers
versions of songs and how the song was
changed -seemingly unrelated songs (texts) that
have underlying similarities (relate to writing)
Each of these CDs includes a different version of
This Land is Your Land
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Music as Color/Shape/Language Discuss how
feelings and music relate Examples What color
would happy music be? Listen to music and draw
pictures to represent the song
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Music as Color/Shape/Language A Winter
Concert -visualization of music
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Blue Green Music by Georgia OKeeffe
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Sonnys Quilt by Faith Ringgold
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Explore Music and Word Choice (rhythm
fluency) Examples Hip Cat Barn Dance Max Found
Two Sticks Tys One Man Band
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Books with Musical Characters Examples Bantam
of the Opera Jazz Fly Ella Fitzgerald Duke
Ellington
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Using Music to Represent Characters and Events
1. Explore using sounds to portray movement and
feeling ex. Make the drum sound happy (sad,
etc.)
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Using Music to Represent Characters and Events
2. Select instruments to portray characters in
a text -listen to Peter the Wolf as an
example -discuss sounds paired with
animals/people -discuss what instrument we would
use to portray a given animal and why (ex. What
instrument would you use for an elephant? A
hummingbird?)
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Using Music to Represent Characters and Events
The Foolish Tortoise (Buckley) -select
instrument for each character and explain
why -use instrument to portray action of story
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Additional Websites for Music Resources Music www
.classicalarchives.com www.classical.net/music/com
poser www.parlorsongs.com
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Dance/Movement Creative Dramatics
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• Dance/Movement Activities
• Create a Dance
• -discuss how movements can portray personality
  characteristics and emotions.
• -after reading a book or poem, have students
  discuss the characterizations and emotions
  portrayed in the text and then move like one of
  the characters.
• Ex Where the Wild Things Are (Sendak)

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• Dance/Movement Activities
• Create a Dance (continued)
• -after students have connected emotions and
  characterization with their movements, have them
  create a dance that portrays the story, book, or
  poem that has been read, perform it for the
  class, and explain why they have selected the
  movements for one of the characters.

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Dance/Movement Activities 2. Relate Movement
Musical Characteristics -read a book or
article about a composer and listen to his/her
music -have students create a dance or movements
to the music
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Dance/Movement Activities 2. Relate Movement
Musical Characteristics Example Read one of
these books John Coltranes Giant Steps
(Raschka) Ella Fitzgerald The Tale of a Vocal
Virtuoso (Pinkney) -play several related musical
selections for the students -reflect upon the
students choices so that they make connections
between the sounds of the instruments, rhythms,
musical style, tempo and other musical
characteristics and the movements that they
selected to portray the music
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Drama/Theatre
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Drama/Theatre Activities 1. Acting Out A
Wordless Book -after reading a wordless book,
students write a script to tell the story told by
the books illustrations then perform the play.
-the importance of this activity is not in the
play itself, but in the students realization of
the reasoning behind their interpretations of the
visual stimuli in the book. Examples
Tuesday (Wiesner) Window (Baker)