Part one seeks to give a background that will enable the reader to use understandingly the various types of visual aids in ordinary teaching situations. Part two is concerned with the modern methods of educational procedure and emphasizes, particularly, practical ways and means of using visual materials for the enrichment of the various subjects in the curriculum. Part three is devoted to the problems of training teachers in a larger use of visual instruction. There is need for a single volume which not only gives general information about visual instruction, but which also gives teachers and supervisors concrete guidance in their daily work. Nothing contained within these pages is merely theoretical; all statements are based upon definite experiences in working with children of all ages. Care has been taken to check up every fundamental principle with the psychology vouched for by reputable experts in this field. - Preface.

2014 Outstanding Academic Title, Choice "What’s going on in this picture?" With this one question and a carefully chosen work of art, teachers can start their students down a path toward deeper learning and other skills now encouraged by the Common Core State Standards. The Visual Thinking Strategies (VTS) teaching method has been successfully implemented in schools, districts, and cultural institutions nationwide, including bilingual schools in California, West Orange Public Schools in New Jersey, and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. It provides for open-ended yet highly structured discussions of visual art, and significantly increases students’ critical thinking, language, and literacy skills along the way. Philip Yenawine, former education director of New York’s Museum of Modern Art and cocreator of the VTS curriculum, writes engagingly about his years of experience with elementary school students in the classroom. He reveals how VTS was developed and demonstrates how teachers are using art—as well as poems, primary documents, and other visual artifacts—to increase a variety of skills, including writing, listening, and speaking, across a range of subjects. The book shows how VTS can be easily and effectively integrated into elementary classroom lessons in just ten hours of a school year to create learner-centered environments where students at all levels are involved in rich, absorbing discussions.

- Professionals can be trained in the program and its methods - Translates scientific knowledge so that practitioners and parents can easily understand the current state of knowledge - Offers strategies that can be tailored to an individual's unique developmental and functional level - Advises parents on how to become involved in all phases of intervention as collaborators, co-therapists, and advocates. - Details how the program can be introduced and adapted for individuals of all ages, from preschooler to adult