5 Ways to Use Visuals in the Classroom

Why is that when we teach our students about numbers, we show them the number one visually. We hold up one finger and maybe place one object in front of them. But when we teach them new vocabulary, we rarely start with the visual--instead we begin with the written word and then move to the visual...maybe. In math we move from concrete to abstract but we rarely do that with other content areas. 
Research indicates that our brains process visuals 60,000X faster than text. Why are we reluctant to tap into that and use it to our advantage in the classroom?

Visuals are important pieces of the learning puzzle. Science tells us that when ideas are presents in visual representation they are more likely to be recalled than if we just used words. Think about the personal memories you have. The ones that are attached to a visual (perhaps a physical picture) may be more distinct in your mind.  You might be able to recall more about the occasion than other events in your life. 
How can we tap into this power in our classrooms? We can't fight the fact that our brains encode pictures both visually and verbally. Words are only encoded verbally. This means that pictures are more richly stamped into our brains. We need this power in our classrooms!

1. One of my favorite ways to use pictures/visuals in the classroom is the Picture Talk or Picture Induction Model. The two methods are not the same but are very similar. Click on the link to learn more. 
2. Another way to bring pictures/visuals into the classroom is to let students draw or sketch their learning. My mom's best friend told me a story a couple of weeks ago that stuck with me. She immigrated from Yugoslavia to Canada when she was 16 and didn't speak English yet. She was an intelligent, educated young lady in her own native language and was studying nursing back home. In Canada, she took a biology class and the teacher asked the students to explain regeneration. She understood the question and knew the meaning but was unable to write or speak the answer in English. So she drew a lizard with its tail chopped off and then another picture with the tail regrown. What a great way to show understanding. Unfortunately, the teacher did not accept her answer because it wasn't in written form. Remember this was a long time ago and we've learned a lot since then. The next step for my mom's best friend could have been to label this picture. After that the teacher could have used this picture to help her with oral language development. Perhaps adding some sentence stems and modeling would be great scaffolds here. Definitely taking an assets based point of view would prove more successful. 
3. Using visuals with vocabulary is a powerful way to help students understand concepts and ideas. When introducing vocabulary words and teaching them explicitly, start with a visual representation of the word. I find that google images and National Geographic Magazine offer nice pictures that are engaging and realistic. From experience, I've noticed that students like real life pictures best. If the vocabulary lends itself, I ask students to bring in their own pictures. The students enjoy sharing their life experiences and family photos with the class. This culturally relevant practice brings student life into curriculum instruction. Students' voices are heard and valued while discussing content area vocabulary. 
4. Reading picture books are a hit with students of all ages believe it or not! We all know that the littles (kids in younger grades) love picture books, but try this out with your older secondary students and see the reaction! When I share picture books, I like to do it as a read aloud. I model thinking aloud as a proficient reader and I stop to give students time to discuss with a partner. With picture books, we use the pictures to support meaning. 
5. Interactive Word Walls changed my life as a teacher. Not only did they give me back some of my at home time (because I use to work on creating that traditional word wall) but also because they put the work and learning on the students (where it needs to be). IWW are thematic or unit based word walls that are like giant graphic organizers. They are created with students and have visuals and sentence stems to support meaning. Learn more by clicking on the link. 

I bet you have great ideas to for using visuals in the classroom. Please comment below and share with all of us!