ABSTRACT
Chapter 6 identifies visual literacy as a critical skill for contemporary students to develop. It is the intersection of literacy and the visual arts. It is also increasingly significant in digital classrooms. Visual literacy has its own set of cueing systems similar to reading. The elements of art and design inform learners how to read visually. This chapter builds on sociocultural theories of reading, the work of Visual Thinking Strategies (VTS), describes what visual literacy is, how to enable students to develop it, how it expands current notions of text, and how it enhances the development of reading and writing. Specific instructional strategies are discussed such as developing skills to read the art of illustration in multicultural picture books, thinking maps, sketchnoting, and more that develop visual literacy.
