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Lesson

Objectives

1. Use metalanguage to describe how visuals semiotic mode interact with texts to make meaning in a narrative book

2. Critically consider the intentions of the author and illustrators' behind each choice or representation

Resources

Prior

Knowledge

  • Students have read other books in the series of Geronimo Stilton and are familiar with the language features used in the book

  • Students have learnt about typography and how it could be used to achieve different effects and meanings

Anchor 1

Introduction

This lesson focuses on analyzing the interaction between texts and images in the book. In particular, it looks at the four basic ways, identified by O'Neil (2021), in which images interact with texts in picture books.

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  1. Images can reinforce,

  2. Describe,

  3. Contradict the story told in the text or

  4. Replace the text in carrying the narrative load

Lesson
Development

  • Prior to reading the physical book or e-book (found in the website provided under "resources") in class, the teacher covers up some of the images found in the book itself

  • The teacher guides students to read one or two short chapters of the book and asks questions to prompt thinking about the choices that the illustrator made to create particular effects or evoke certain emotions​

  • The teacher reveals the covered-up images and guides students to notice how visuals are used to convey meaning. The teacher also prompts deeper analysis of how different choices convey different meanings, using the Encounter, Engagement and Evaluation (EEE) framework to structure guiding questions (Lim, Nguyen & Tan, 2020).​​

    •  by covering up the images, the teacher provides space for imagination and prediction (e.g. how do you think the dragon of the rainbow looks like?)​

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​The teacher aims to ​help students understand that pictures are not simply embellishments in stories, rather they can be and are often used as meaning-making tools to "tell a different story" or "arouse certain emotions that the text alone may fail to convey" (Lim, Nguyen & Tan, 2020, p. 6)​

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EEE framework (Lim, Nguyen & Tan, 2020)

Guiding Questions

Encounter

How did you feel when you looked at the image?

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Engagement

Mood: What do you notice about the colours used in the image? What mood did they create?

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Relation: What do you notice about the arrangement of the character? Let's look at Geronimo's face and action, what kind of relationship does Geronimo and the Dragon has? 

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Importance: What do you notice about the size of the characters? Why are they different in size? 

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How does the facial expression or body language of the characters convey their emotions?

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Evaluation

  • The teacher gets students to critically evaluate the selected images found in the book and prompts thinking about (1) the purpose of the picture in relation to the text, (2) whether the images provide more information, enhance or contradict the story. 

What is the purpose of the image in relation to the text? 

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Does the picture

(1) emphasize what was said in the text,

(2) add meaning or details to the story,

(3) contradict the story or

(4) tell another story on its own

(note: an image can fulfil more than one purpose)

Why were certain choices made by the illustrator? How does that choice convey the intended meaning/ trait of the character?

How would you draw the image differently? Is there anything that you would like to change, add or remove from the image?

Why would you choose to make those changes? How would those changes help readers understand the story or characters better?

Screenshot 2021-09-30 at 1.48.09 AM.png

  • Students discuss and share their responses to the questions in groups while the teacher walks around to check understanding and prompts deeper analysis by posing questions

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  • To provide opportunities for creative alternative representations (as recommended in the EEE framework), individually, students are tasked to represent one of the characters in a different way according to their impression of their selected character through a website on iPad. 

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  • ​The teacher briefly teaches students how to navigate the website by highlighting the basic and crucial functions ​

  • Instruction: Students are tasked to modify the appearance of a selected character according to their impression of them

  • At the end of the lesson, students share their work on Padlet and specify reasons/ their intentions that support the changes made. 

This website was chosen due to its straightforward design which allows students to easily navigate and access necessary functions. Additionally, the website removes the need for additional skills such as drawing, colouring, etc. that may distract them from applying multimodal literacy.

(screenshots of the website)

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