Student work by Hennessey Whalen at Indiana University.

1. Visual Pedagogy
Project
TRANSMEDIATION

2. What is Transmediation?
 A project in which students are asked to provide a visual
response to a topic, issue or reading to social studies,
science or language arts.

3. Guiding Questions
 What does the child’s visual response tell me about what
they took from and understood from the story?
 In what ways does this project make it evident that
“transmediation” is a good strategy to use in the
classroom, in terms of students’ responses for reflections
to concepts or topics?

4. My Project
 I read the book Swamp Angel
by Anne Isaacs, to a 5th grade
student and a 3rd grade
student without showing them
the illustrations.
 After reading the book once I
asked the students to respond
to the reading through a
drawing. I told them they
could show how the book
make them them feel, what it
made them think about, or a
related topic.

5. Why…?
 Goldberg
 Pg. 1: “The arts provide a methodology by which students can
transform their observations into a creative form.”
 Pg. 9: “Art is a language of expression and communication that
has always been a fundamental aspect of human condition and
perpetuation of cultures.”
 Wilson
 Pg. 24: “Children are easily able to convey their thoughts and
ideas through drawing.”

6. The Product: 5th Grader

7. The Product: 3rd Grader

8. My Project Continued
 After seeing the students responses to the book without
being able to see the illustrations, I thought I would be
interesting to see if their views or conceptualizations of
the story would change if they were able to look at the
illustrations while reading.
 I read the students the book again showing them the
illustrations on each page as I read.
 I again asked the students to respond to the book through
a drawing.

9. Why…?
 Goldberg
 Pg. 5: “By exercising their imaginations through subject matter-
related artwork, children are more likely to make connections and
transcend previous limitations.”
 Fountas/Olsen
 Pg. 4: “If a drawing is a means of thinking and processing
information, of communicating what is known and understood,
and of relating ones self to a body of knowledge then a more
complete and/or expressive and better composed drawing provides
another window for understanding the complexity of student
thinking and communication skills.”
 Ballenge/Morris
 Pg. 5: “Learning how to make connections and not see subjects or
people in isolated, unrelated ways is a lifelong skill that is vitally
important for students to learn.”

10. The Product: 5th Grader

11. The Product: 3rd Grader

12. Personal Pedagogy
 I believe strongly in the importance of incorporating art
into the curriculum for both the teacher and the students
 It gives the teacher insight into student thinking that they
may not otherwise have access to
 Gives the students a universal way to communicate their
ideas to the teacher and their peers
 Allows students to explore topics that may be too advanced
to understand through text
 It provides a common “language” and form of expression for
all students

13. Transmediation in the Classroom
 What I’ve Learned:
 Transmediation is a very useful tool in the classroom.
 Provides a great way to elicit responses from children who do
not yet have developed linguistic or writing skills
 Provides opportunity to fully involve English Language Learners
in to the lesson
 Engages students and gets them excited about relaying their
thoughts and ideas to others
 Creates and easy way for teachers to understand student
thinking

14. Why this is important for teachers
 Oreck
 It is important for teachers to view art not as a separate subject
to be taught, but rather to integrate art into many subjects for a
variety of instructional purposes.
 Teachers are able to articulate a wide range of clear
performance and personal growth goals for students through
involvement in arts processes.
 Goldberg
 Pg. 25: “The arts deepen teachers’ awareness of students
abilities and provide alternative methods of assessment.”

15. THE STUDENTS!