Patricia M. Sorrentino
In teaching "reading skills," one might ask why artwork? Artwork, like short stories or poems, allows us the opportunity to view/read a story much more quickly than a novel. A piece of artwork can be visually exciting and may interest my students more than a novel. Also, since this unit is being taught in conjunction with other units, the artwork breaks up the constant reading mode students become tired of in English class. Artwork requires the same elements of comprehension that a text requires, so artwork is just a different, sometimes more exciting mode for learning the skills necessary to read and comprehend text. Using artwork also allows me to create short activities, which only require one class period. Given the attendance issue I deal with, this unit greatly supports the way in which I need to plan to help my students be successful in my class.