Step by Step guide

I love the fact that this article provides a step by step explanation for how you can plan to incorporate illustrations, models, and map into a lesson plan for elementary students. It is an ... See More

I love the fact that this article provides a step by step explanation for how you can plan to incorporate illustrations, models, and map into a lesson plan for elementary students. It is an easy guide to follow to make sure that your students are engaged and talking about their findings. I recommend all elementary science teachers to read this article!

I agree!

I could not agree more with this article. The article really explains my belief of importance in visual learning. Some people like to exclude visual learning for the children because they th... See More

I could not agree more with this article. The article really explains my belief of importance in visual learning. Some people like to exclude visual learning for the children because they think the children needs to become more word-concentrated learners, and I really don’t think this is a way to teach children. As an ESOL student, visual learning has helped me out throughout my middle school year. It is an international teaching strategy where it directs student to understand the concept. The article mentioned about making models and maps, and developing mental pictures. I also think the visual-spatial learning can allow these factors into students’ educations in many ways and thought this article is important for teachers to read and aware of importance in visual-spatial learning.

Minds, Models and Maps

When reading this article, I found it to be very clear and on target. I am a big believer that a teacher should incorporate visual aspects such as pictures, models and maps into their teachi... See More

When reading this article, I found it to be very clear and on target. I am a big believer that a teacher should incorporate visual aspects such as pictures, models and maps into their teaching and I think that this article proves that it is extremely important to do so. I really enjoyed reading this piece and think that the author provided many examples and reasons why it is crucial to integrate this with other classroom activities. I like that he stated that it was also “a second way of knowing” information which provides more options for teachers to enhance students learning in different ways. Furthermore, this article shows an example of strategies on how to implement his theory which can help teachers, especially new ones understand how it can be done in an easy way. This is definitely something that I will incorporate in my classroom and have the author’s plan in mind.

Minds, Models, and Maps Review

This article makes two very strong points; Comprehension is based on a students ability to "picture" it in their mind's eye and students that can form mental images and learn from the illust... See More

This article makes two very strong points; Comprehension is based on a students ability to "picture" it in their mind's eye and students that can form mental images and learn from the illustrations in a text have better recall and comprehension of a text. For me the most important aspects of students learning successfully are engagement, comprehension, and recall. With the ability to be able to picture things and link them to background knowledge a key element. This article also gives a basic and helpful way for teachers to help students learn how to use illustrations for comprehension.

Visualization is the key to understanding

Kenneth Wilson, who will be a featured speaker at the NSTA 2011 regional conferences, explores how nearly "80% of the information entering our conscious sensory world does so by way of the... See More

Kenneth Wilson, who will be a featured speaker at the NSTA 2011 regional conferences, explores how nearly "80% of the information entering our conscious sensory world does so by way of the eyes, making sight our major pathway to discovery, learning, and knowledge." How to develop visual understanding and to methods to enhance and use visualization is important in our science classrooms. I want to know more !

Visual Aids

This is a brief, yet informative, article displaying the importance of visual aids in the classroom. Wesson discusses the importance of teaching students visual-spatial skills and how child... See More

This is a brief, yet informative, article displaying the importance of visual aids in the classroom. Wesson discusses the importance of teaching students visual-spatial skills and how children who learn through hands-on activities retain the material better and enjoy the lesson more. I liked how this article was set up and that Wesson also included a step by step guide for how to incorporate illustrations, models, and maps into lessons. Including such a list makes it easier for teachers to implement the topics of this article into their classroom. It's a quick read, but helpful!

Reminder of need for visual tools in learning

The author reminds us of the necessity for students to see, feel and also create visual representations of the subjects that they are learning about. For deep lasting learning reading and le... See More

The author reminds us of the necessity for students to see, feel and also create visual representations of the subjects that they are learning about. For deep lasting learning reading and leacture is simply not enough. Wesson provides some examples of strategies for using models and maps in the classroom and discusses the value of having the students create illustrations and models that demonstrate and deepen their understanding and creativity in exploring the subject matter.

Very informative

The information in this article is very useful to classroom teachers. It states the importance illustrations have in the learning process. It explains how illustrations are both important fo... See More

The information in this article is very useful to classroom teachers. It states the importance illustrations have in the learning process. It explains how illustrations are both important for comprehension and attention. I believe it is important as a teacher to provide many opportunities to your students to have that time to see and make their own illustrations.

Great in class article!

This article is great for in class use. Not only could you share this article with your students but it shows you (the teacher) ways in which to incorporate models, maps, and illustrations w... See More

This article is great for in class use. Not only could you share this article with your students but it shows you (the teacher) ways in which to incorporate models, maps, and illustrations with in your lesson plan. This is a short, easy read that provides a lot of information, information that is great for understanding how models are useful tools for learning

Illustrations are more important than we think

Wesson, the author of this article, clearly explains how important illustrations, models, and maps are in order for students to get a better understanding of the text. He makes good points w... See More

Wesson, the author of this article, clearly explains how important illustrations, models, and maps are in order for students to get a better understanding of the text. He makes good points when he says students can get creative with these illustrations and they can better grasp things like how big Earth is compared to other planets. The fact that I agree with him the most is that everyone visualizes for reading in order to get a better understanding. I know when I read I always put a picture in my mind of what I just read. If the kids do that and also see an illustration I think they can compare each illustration which will lead to a better understanding of the text. He concluded with how to incorproate illustrations in the assignments, which is benefical for all teachers!

Visual World

The connection between the “mind’s eye” and how we learn has always been fascinating to me, and I really enjoyed many of the examples that you have given, such as use of illustration in Chil... See More

The connection between the “mind’s eye” and how we learn has always been fascinating to me, and I really enjoyed many of the examples that you have given, such as use of illustration in Children’s literature and validation of sight in order for comprehension and recall. I found it confusing that you mentioned using formal instruction with children to allow them to form mental images and learning by paying attention in text. I was unclear about how you may teach someone to visualize or imagine to create mental images in a formal aspect, and though illustration is a great aid in comprehension and understanding I’m not sure it should be the main point. This article was very well written and you touched on many subject areas where visual learning is important.

Visual Aid Importance in Classrooms

The journal Minds, Models and Maps by Kenneth Wesson explores the importance of the use of visual aids in a science classroom. He begins by stating that science is too massive to bring into ... See More

The journal Minds, Models and Maps by Kenneth Wesson explores the importance of the use of visual aids in a science classroom. He begins by stating that science is too massive to bring into a classroom completely. Sketches, maps, models and other visual aids open students to the reality of the science world. Wesson says that visualizing is integral to reading for comprehension, to understand what they read; students rely heavily on “picture- making” which can be viewed as their second way of knowing. The article continues with a list of nine easy strategies for incorporating illustrations, models and maps. Although I found strategies such as introducing a big idea by allowing students to discuss and draw a picture of what they think they will learn based off of a title and maintaining a “mind- map” recording vocabulary, what they see, hear and do (making the scientific method familiar to students) interesting, as a pre- service teacher and a visual learner myself, I was already convinced that visual aids are important in a classroom setting of any type. I do however give this journal article a three out of five stars because Wesson does a good explanation for using visuals in the classroom and he gives some good strategies to incorporate visuals into any teaching unit.