Why use Symbols?
Why
pictures can be used effectively in mainstream education.
Pictures are a way of adding meaning to
a piece of text. For some pupils the transition from pictures
to words can seem very great. Pictures may provide an interim
stage whereby the specific picture is generalised into the
concept before the appropriate word is decoded. They may also
provide the necessary language content for the development
of many pre-reading skills and early cognitive development.
The type of pictures can vary but the pictures included in
Express Literacy are simple and colourful pictures that support
the meaning of the displayed activity.
Emergent readers can occur at any age throughout
school and there are many more pupils with learning difficulties
included in mainstream education now than ever before. Using
pictures is an ideal way of differentiating the curriculum
for those pupils who have difficulty in decoding text so,
in this way, independence and self-advocacy is promoted. The
pictures give a cue into the meaning of the text by illustrating
individual words or phrases directly above the word referred
to. By this means, pupils can track along the sentence and
refer to the picture if the word is difficult to decode. Therefore,
it is hoped that pupils will be able to get to grips with
techniques such as word recognition, word building and spelling
as well as comprehension of text.
The pictures in Express Literacy support
the High and Medium frequency words found in the National
Literacy Strategy as well as a wide selection of nouns and
verbs to make the activities and tasks more enjoyable. There
are over 1000 words supported by pictures within the program.
The use of pictures should provide a wider access to the activities
by pupils who might otherwise have been denied access through
lack of communication, decoding or comprehension skills.
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