Art Infused Literacy: Scaffolding the Writing Process with with Visual Strategies

Abstract

This article describes a classroom-based teacher inquiry project that incorporated the use of visual art strategies to scaffold the writing process for 2nd grade students. The project was conducted in a rural Title I school in the Intermountain West. Designed by an art teacher, the Art Infused Literacy inquiry project applied the theory of transmediation, which is the “process of translating meanings from one sign system (such as language) into another (such as pictorial representation)” (Siegel, 1995, p. 456). This concept was of special interest to the first author since she recognized that transmediation could be a framework for bridging art and literacy teaching and learning. Many of her young students struggled with literacy skills and through transmediation she saw a way to organically support reading and writing in the art classroom. Being familiar with the content areas of both art and literacy, the first author had observed  in her art classroom the similarities between how visual art and written works are created. Noting this connection inspired the following inquiry questions: (a) If salient concepts of the  writing process are taught and practiced via exploration of the visual arts first, does this foundation provide a scaffold for students to transfer these concepts to the writing process?  and (b) What visual strategies can be effectively employed to assist students in learning complex writing skills and achieving transmediation?   A seven week interdisciplinary unit was designed and implemented in the first author’s classroom. Upon completion, this inquiry revealed synergies between visual arts and the writing process which resulted in positive student outcomes.