Using Art to Teach Reading Comprehension Strategies: Lesson Plans for Teachers

Teaching Comprehension Strategies through Visual Art: Lesson Plans for Teachers is a valuable resource for all elementary classroom teachers and all elementary art teachers looking for an integrated approach to teaching language arts and reading and the visual arts.

Written by experienced educators, Jenny Klein and Lisa Stuart have included a variety of easy to use lesson plans that represent a skillful blending of standards-based content from both the visual arts and language arts that enables students to understand and utilize both text and visual information in developing successful reading strategies.

In a time when the emphasis on reading and language arts is paramount in the field of education, Klein and Stuart have provided an invaluable approach to integrating standards-based content from language arts and visual arts into a series of well-integrated lesson plans for elementary educators that will enable students to learn the content of language arts and the visual arts while developing reading skills in all students.

This is an excellent guide for both new and experienced teachers. Art and classroom teachers will find the book invaluable. It offers practical advice and well developed lessons for integrating art with reading strategies.
Educators will appreciate the list of literary and visual references.In addition, the charts and graphic organizers are easily accessible. This is a perfect book for hands on teaching and a desktop library.

Using Art to Teach Reading Comprehension Strategies is such a great resource that makes a natural connection between visual art and reading skills. Each lesson is field tested and very relevant to teachers of a variety of age groups in both visual art and reading. The potential for the suggested lessons is great as they are flexible enough to incorporate any text or artwork and could provide a compliment to just about any concept being taught. This is a must have for any teacher looking to improve students’ comprehension skills!

Jennifer Klein is currently a reading specialist for Montgomery County Public Schools. Over the course of her career, she has worked as an elementary classroom teacher, gifted and talented teacher, staff developer, and teacher trainer for MCPS. Over the past several years, she has merged these passions to create after-school and summer workshops for children including the Artist/Readers’ Workshop and the Artist/Writers’ Workshop, and has also taught at the Rehoboth Art league in Rehoboth, Delaware.

Elizabeth Stuart Whitehead taught elementary art for nine years and was the content specialist for art, theatre, and dance for Montgomery County Public Schools in Rockville, Maryland, for seven years. Currently, she is Visual Art Supervisor for Prince George’s County Public Schools in Maryland. Prince George’s County is a pioneer in Arts Integration (AI) with 75+ model schools and growing.