VISUAL
DISCOVERY
What is Visual Discovery?
Visual discovery is a dynamic,
participatory experience, where
students view, touch, interpret
and bring to life compelling
visuals as they discover key social
studies concepts.
Visually illiterate?
• Today’s students are bombarded daily with
images. Constant exposure to television, videos,
computer games, the Internet, magazines, and
advertisements has created a visual generation.
• Many teachers are beginning to notice, however,
that while students certainly “consume” many
images daily, they are not necessarily critical
viewers who understand what they see.
• In fact, far from being visually literate, many of
our students are so numbed by the sheer
quantity and rapidity of media images that they
are left visually illiterate.
EXAMPLE
Using an image, like the image of war below
showing US Troops, captures the essence of
danger and hardship caused by war. The troops
seem to be rushing into an uncertain future. This
is an opportunity to ask students to step into the
image and recreate what they may expect to
confront during war.
BENEFITS
•
•
•
•
Sharpens visual-literacy skills
Develop higher-level thinking skills
Develops deductive reasoning
Taps visual, intrapersonal, and bodykinesthetic intelligence
• Helps students learn and remember
STEP 1
Use powerful images
to teach social
studies content.
WHY?
Powerful images can represent key
concepts of social studies lessons.
The right image will stay in
student’s minds for months or even
years and will serve as a powerful
visual reference to help them recall
key information.
Opportunity
For example, the first image at
right, which shows U.S. troops
landing in Khe Sanh, South
Vietnam, illustrates the massive
deployment of U.S. troops for the
Vietnam War. It is a strong visual
reminder of the concept of
deployment. The heavily laden
troops seem to be rushing into
an uncertain future. This sets up
an excellent opportunity for the
teacher to assume the role of onscene reporter and ask students
who step into the image what
they expect to confront in the
jungles of Vietnam.
STEP 2
Arrange your
classroom so
projected
images will be
large and clear.
HOW?
The best classroom configuration
for Visual Discovery is
parliamentary style, with 2
groups of desks,
facing each other.
STEP 3
Ask carefully sequenced
questions that lead to
discovery.
HOW?
Ask a series of questions that spiral from
the basic to the critical thinking level.
• What do you see?
• What do you suppose these people are
expecting to happen?
Be sure to link each successive question
to the question preceding it.
Level I: Gathering Evidence
• Start by telling students to think of themselves as
detectives, and to regard the projected image as
a scene from a time or a place that they need to
investigate.
• At this level, the detective’s task is to look for
evidence— details that may reveal something
about the scene.
• Explain that the evidence should be physical—
material objects they could actually touch if they
were able to step into the scene.
Level II: Interpreting Evidence
At this level, your student detectives begin to interpret
the details or evidence they gathered at the scene.
Have them formulate ideas or make inferences based
on the existing evidence, such as the time period,
place, or people in the scene. As your detectives
share their ideas, encourage them to state their
interpretation, then follow up with a “because”
statement that cites their supporting evidence.
Typically, questions at this level are what, when,
where, and who questions.
Level III: Making Hypotheses from
Evidence
• At this level, the student detectives must use the evidence
and their own critical thinking skills to determine the
“motives” behind the scene they are investigating. Have
them make hypotheses about what is happening and why.
Typically, questions at this level are why and how questions
that require higher-order thinking skills such as justifying,
synthesizing, predicting, and evaluating.
• The detective analogy helps students grasp the concept of
discovering or uncovering the stories images have to tell.
For example, the following series of spiral questions
demonstrates how the three-level “detective” structure
helps students interact with a painting related to the
immigration experience.
***EFFECTIVE SPIRALING***
LEVEL 1 – Gathering Evidence
• What do you see?
• How would you describe the scene?
LEVEL 2 – Interpreting Evidence
• What do you think is the date of this scene?
• Where might this scene have taken place?
LEVEL 3 – Making Hypotheses from Evidence
• How do you think these people were feeling?
• Why do you think these people are immigrating to America?
STEP 4
Challenge students to
read about the image
and apply what they
learn.
WHY?
Once students have used their
visual-literacy skills, they should
read something about the image
to answer questions, fill in
content gaps, further their
knowledge, and enrich their
understanding.
STEP 5
Have students interact
with the images to
demonstrate what they
have learned.
HOW?
One way to assess what students
have learned is to have them
“step into” the visual images and
bring them to life.
5 Ways to Structure Act-It-Outs
Scripted – prepare a simple script the actor uses to
bring the character to life
Role Cards – give students cards telling about their
character so they can prepare the role
Talking Statues – students “freeze” then one-at-atime “come to life” to express a thought or
feeling of their character
Group Presentation – Assuming the role of a
reporter, teacher interviews members of the
group who have assumed roles and answer from
character perspective
Impromptu – Audience asks questions to students
assuming character roles
Your lesson plan includes…
Make sure your Visual Discovery lesson has
these design elements:
• from four to six carefully selected images
• a content focus for each image
• four or five spiraled questions for each image that
help lead students to discover key content
• materials (role cards, props) for dynamic act-itouts for one or two images
• techniques for class participation in act-it-outs