Visual Literacy Teacher Resources

It is increasingly important that 21st century learners develop the media literacy skills they need to think critically about images, to be able to recognize the purpose, the message, and the techniques used to influence a target audience. Lesson Planet offers a full range of visual literacy resources for all subject areas, lessons, videos, and activities that define visual literacy, teach students how to recognize and analyze the techniques used.

A great way to start is with a lesson like this to get young people thinking about their visual literacy skills. Try this presentation to help young artists develop their analysis skills as they critique the work of famous artists (as well as their own work). Beyond the walls of the art world, the internet has had a profound effect on the way we perceive and interact with the world and has forced the expansion of visual literacy skills, as explored in this lesson plan. Images captured on cell phones have the power to influence how events are reported.

The resources in our collection encourage students to broaden their perspective, to see beyond one tweet, one video, one post and to become savvy consumers of media.

Showing 3,265 resources
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Lesson Plan
Perkins School for the Blind

I See Something Red

For Teachers K - 6th
For learners with low vision, the ability to identify colors is an important skill that will help them identify people and places. Groups of brightly colored objects are placed around the room. The child is then given a colored paper and...
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Activity
Scholastic

Dr. Seuss Extension Activities

For Teachers Pre-K - 2nd Standards
Extend the exhilarating learning experience of Dr. Seuss with five activities designed to reinforce literacy skills—site word reading, dialogue writing, story mapping, and more! Featured stories include The Lorax,...
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Lesson Plan
National Woman's History Museum

Propaganda and Women's Suffrage

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
Americans who backed the suffragist movement used posters to gain the support of others for their cause. Class members analyze the visual imagery and propaganda devices used in a variety of these posters. In addition, groups examine how...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Library Media: Poetry

For Teachers 5th
Fifth graders explore different kinds of poetry. They work in groups to collect different styles of poetry. Then they use charts to organize the attributes of various poems. Conclude the instructional activity by having each individual...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Techniques Used to Convey Messages in Media

For Teachers 9th - 12th
High schoolers examine different types of media. In this media awareness instructional activity, students discover techniques used in print, language, symbolic, and technical media as they rotate through classroom station activities.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Media Awareness: Key Concepts in Advertising

For Teachers 5th - 8th
Learners examine the basic concepts of advertising.  In this media awareness lesson, students discuss target audience, art, and purpose in advertising to determine what makes an advertisement effective or ineffective. ...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Heroic Images: Visualization and Media Messages

For Teachers 8th - 12th
Students examine media messages. In this media awareness lesson, students analyze online messages about heroism as they complete a jigsaw reading activity.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Media and You

For Teachers 7th
Seventh graders discuss the main purposes of media. Using various advertisements, they identify the method used by the advertisers in each example. They use these methods to create and sell their own product to the class. They use the...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Lesson 10:Media

For Teachers 2nd
Second graders share their expository writing pieces. In this expository writing lesson, 2nd graders create a visual media product to give to their parents to invite them to an author celebration. They bring props and share their writing...
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Worksheet
Curated OER

Music and the Media

For Students 4th - 6th
For this music media worksheet, learners read the statements about television and theme music and then identify the four themes from popular t.v. programs.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Media Messages

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Young scholars analyze advertisements and decide what message is being conveyed. In this media instructional activity, students analyze drawings from a tall tale. Young scholars view drawings from the book Johnny Appleseed and discuss...
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Activity
Sharp School

Career Project 2

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Help your pupils find some direction with a career research project. Individuals research three careers, using the included graphic organizers to record their findings. They then create a visual aid on a computer and present their...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Columbine Tapes: The Media's Right To Know

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students research the Columbine tragedy. They read about the media role of watchdog on the government. Students discuss and debate how the media has been involved in the latest release of Columbine videos and other material.
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Unit Plan
MDE k-12

Lesson 5: The Journey Becomes Larger Than Life!

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Many muralists throughout history have focused on using their art to represent aspects of their culture or community. After thoroughly researching several muralists, budding artists will create a larger than life mural that contains...
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Lesson Plan
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Curated OER

Seeing the Image in Imagery: A Lesson Plan Using Film

For Students 11th - 12th Standards
In our increasingly visual society, it is often difficult for some readers to create a mental picture of a picture created only with words. An image-rich text like F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby can therefore, present a real...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Papyrus to PDA

For Teachers 9th - 12th
What a great project. Graphic arts students consider the social, political, and economic impact made by a chosen invention. They build an argument to substantiate their reasons for choosing said invention. They create an oral...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Tell-Tale Hearts of Writers

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Knock, knock, knock...Creep out your class with a critical thinking lesson focused on word relationships in Edgar Allen Poe's "The Tell-Tale Heart." They investigate  the relationship between word choice, mood, and interpretation of...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Lesson: Paul Chan: Alternumeric Fonts

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Learning to analyze language, symbols, and codes is part of becoming a deep and critical thinker. Young analysts consider their ability to see hidden messages as they analyze the work of Paul Chan. There are two fully developed...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Lesson: Unmonumental: Yesterday's News

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Upper graders are tasked with developing a social consciousness as they analyze the impact of the news media. They view a presentation depicting various media events in order to understand threshold moments in history. There are three...
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Lesson Plan
Perkins School for the Blind

Accessible Labels

For Teachers Pre-K - 12th
When you're blind it is extremely important to be able to navigate your environment in as independent a way as possible. This idea isn't a lesson, but it is a great way to foster independent mobility and literacy skills while making the...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Digital Photography

For Teachers K - 12th
Scholars learn to use digital cameras to take pictures of natural subjects. They will examine the use of digital cameras, how to download photos, and to develop a digital project. They take nature pictures and develop a Power Point or...
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Lesson Plan
Austin Independent School District

Visual Discovery Note Taking Sheets

For Teachers 7th - 12th
Step into history and step out with a new understanding of events. These strategies bring a new level of understanding of key events by asking viewers to engage in and respond to projected images. Complete directions for the activity, a...
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Graphic
Common Sense Media

Legit-O-Meter

For Students 7th - 12th Standards
Pop-ups, banner ads, grammar mistakes ... these are all signs of an untrustworthy website. With the handy Legit-O-Meter poster, scholars can now double-check their sources to ensure accurate, reliable information. The color-coded poster...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Now That's Beautiful!

For Teachers 7th - 12th Standards
Your class experiences dozens of messages about beauty every day by reading magazines, watching movies, and listening to the radio. Have them analyze society's view of beauty in groups after discussing several resources, including...