The curriculum theme Reading Art builds essential comprehension strategies and draws parallels between art, reading and writing. Six works of art from the North Carolina Museum of Art (NCMA) collection illustrate some of the ways artists communicate stories through a visual language of color, line, shape and pattern. The curriculum provides suggestions for teaching students in grades K-8 to use proficient reading strategies—visualizing, determining importance, making connections, inferring, questioning and synthesizing—to analyze a work of art in much the same way they read strategically.

The lessons meet North Carolina Competency Goals in English Language Arts, Visual Arts, Social Studies, Dance and Theater Arts.

Theme Outline:

I. Focus Works of Art
Six works of art from the North Carolina Museum of Art's collection have been chosen for their relationship to reading and writing. The works vary in subject matter and complexity. You may choose which of the works and accompanying materials are relevant for your students. The information accompanying each work of art consists of the following components.

A.     Language of Art
This visual description of the Focus Work of Art helps you understand how artists communicate information using the elements of art. A link provides you with more background information on the artist and the subject of the work of art. You may share this information with your students or describe it in a more age-appropriate way.

B.     Communication and Comprehension Strategies
Research on reading comprehension and engagement (Harvey and Goudvis, 2000; Keene and Zimmerman, 1997) suggests that proficient readers

· are metacognitive

· create visual and other sensory memories

· determine the most important ideas

· utilize relevant background knowledge before, during and after reading (making text-self, text-text and text-world connections)

· draw inferences

· ask questions

· synthesize

Many readers need to be taught these strategies explicitly so that they can learn what good readers do when they read. When teaching these comprehension strategies to your students, integrate the arts by discussing how we can analyze works of art in much the same way that we read strategically.

This section models ways that viewers use these strategies to understand the Focus Works of Art. Italicized questions may be posed directly to students during classroom discussion of these works of art.

C.     Explore the Object in the Classroom
These brief suggestions present ways of using the Focus Work of Art with students in the classroom. The activities and discussion ideas are listed in order of difficulty. The activity instructions and italicized discussion questions may be presented directly to the students. The icons below each suggestion note the related subject area(s). Additional activity ideas are explored in the Lesson Plans.

D.     Go a Step Further
Sidebars help you and your students make connections between the Focus Work of Art and other works in the NCMA collection. By clicking on the image, you can find out more information about the work of art.

II. Lesson Plans for Grades K-8
The Lesson Plans are organized by age group (grades K-2, 3-5, 6-8) and correlate to state and national objectives. The plans outline ideas for teaching comprehension strategies using the Focus Works of Art. The lessons include suggestions for adapting instruction to different subject areas.

III. Glossary
Glossary words appear in purple. By clicking on a word, you can read its definition, or the entire contents of the glossary.

IV. References
Harvey, S., and Goudvis, A. Strategies That Work: Teaching Comprehension to Enhance Understanding. York, ME: Stenhouse, 2000.

Keene, E.O., and Zimmerman, S. Mosaic of Thought: Teaching Comprehension in a Reader’s Workshop. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann, 1997.