Teachers can deepen and extend students' responses to literature by inviting them to create visual and/or symbolic representations of what they read. Working either independently or collaboratively, students can plan and make visuals that convey their understanding of a literary character, conflict, or theme. Visual representations might include posters, drawings, collages, photographs, bulletin boards, sculpture, jewelry, or costumes.
Creating Visual Representations and Symbols in the Classroom
You can begin by asking students to discuss the writer's use of similes and metaphors. This scaffolding prepares the students to create their visual representations.
Following the discussion, the students move into small groups. Each student selects a character to represent, and they discuss that character's personality and any important physical, emotional, or psychological traits. The groups then begin to brainstorm objects, symbols, metaphors, colors, or images that might represent this character or be important to him or her.
As individual students make suggestions, the other group members ask questions to spur more critical and creative thinking. For example, in Morimoto's classroom, the students challenge each other to make their representation symbolic rather than literal.
Once each of the group members has decided upon a visual symbol or metaphor, they write a detailed explanation of what it is and how it represents the character, draw a picture of it (sometimes with a caption or quote under the drawing), and present their work to the class.
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