Language and Image in the
Reading-
Edited by Kristie Fleckenstein, Linda Clendrillo, and
Demetrice Worley
"I don't know what to write
next," my 9-year
old complains. "Well why don't you
draw your story then write it." I suggest.
"Oh, yeah," she sighs with relief." -- Kristie
Felckenstein
Our society's communication is
becoming more and more tied
to imagery with the evolution of image rich multi-media such as the
internet.
Literacy skills now and in the future require more than reading and
writing. Creating and interpreting images
is not secondary anymore, but fundamental.
In Language and Image in the Reading-Writing Classroom contemporary
issues and approaches to teaching imagery are addressed in a collection
of
articles in four sections: 1) Authoring
the Image, 2) Mental Vision, 3) Graphic Vision, and 4) Verbal Vision. Each article is written by a different scholar
in the field and includes a theoretical discussion as well as a
practical
strategy to apply in the classroom.
I picked up this book last
spring and read the first
article, "Inviting Imagery into Our Classrooms." Leafing through the
table of contents over the weekend I found that one of the articles is
by our
own Nat Teich whose contribution "Spots of Time" - Writerly and
Readerly Imaging With William Wordsworth and Basho” appears in the
section on
verbal vision. In his writing Nat
describes his assignments - used in two different classes where he
blends a
literature analysis with personal writing.
(Either Wordsworth or Basho) He introduces Wordsworth's idea
"spot
of time" which we got a small taste of in the "talk/write"
exercise we did with
partners in the first week of OWP: identifying a key moment in your
life and
writing about it. He has students frame
a literature analysis and identify with it as they consider their own
"spot of time." I find this inspiring both aesthetically and
emotionally. To quote: "This is an
exercise for interconnectedness - of thought and feeling, cognition and
affect,
mind and body."
It seems to me, that whatever
literature we choose to have
our students read, we must find a way to not only help them make that
personal
connection, but to help them access their imagination.
Our own lives are a wealth of images and
meaning. To enter into the experience of
the author and to understand our own lives is for me, the beauty of
literature.
In another article, "The Mind's
Eye View: Teaching
Students How to Sensualize Language" Debra Innocenti argues that image
formation is necessary for language development, thinking, and logical
reasoning. Citing Gardner in Creating
Minds she points out that the great minds such as Mandelbrot,
Feynman, and
Einstein all confessed to thinking in images.
Her pedagogical approach to teaching sense awareness begins with
having
students describe paintings without using judgments, just pure
description. The class then moves into
advertisements,
speeches, and films, and students share their results and journal and
doodle in
their notebooks. She also describes
using olfactory or tactile images which put me in mind of Kelly's
walking
lesson.
This is not the type of book
you grab up and take off with,
but more the thinking, challenging type of reading that changes your
mindset
and turns you around 180 degrees. It's
kind of like a big glass of ice water on a hot July afternoon.