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Reviews and awards
Read what other educators have said about our books. Here is a selection:
I See What You Mean [awarded 1996]
Review by: Michelle Blanken, Program Director, Chemical Laboratory Technician Program; NSTA National Science Teachers' Association (USA)
"NSTA Recommends:
I See What You Mean: Children at Work with Visual Information by Steve Moline
Grade level: K-8
Keywords: Psychology Reading Science Teacher Education
Reviewed by Michelle Blanken, Program Director, Chemical Laboratory Technician Program
I See What You Mean: Children at Work with Visual Information addresses an often-overlooked component of literacy. Depending on their use, the graphic and visual elements of instruction, or visual texts, can enhance understanding or create misconceptions.
Author Steve Moline has provided an informative guide for elementary teachers that is easy to use. This guide describes the best use of diagrams, maps, graphs, and other graphic organizers.
Busy teachers will appreciate the large font with bold headings, bulleted information lists, and many examples of drawings and diagrams. Figures or illustrations represent each type of visual text, and large margins on each page can be used by the reader to take notes. Sidebars provide good summaries of information on the visual texts.
Much of the author's information is drawn from studies with children. The chapters present examples of student drawings, and quotations from students and teachers illustrate their impressions and thoughts on the use of the visual text activities within their lessons. There are examples of misleading graphs and charts that can give readers unintended information.
The last chapter summarizes how the basic elements of graphic design, including layout, typography, signposting, and text positioning, can be used to enhance student learning.
This excellent professional development guide has so many examples and practical tips that it will be valuable to any teacher at the primary level."
Review posted 5 January 2003
Review by:The Instructional Resources Unit Curriculum and Instruction Branch Saskatchewan Education, Canada
I See What You Mean: Children at Work With Visual Information
"Using numerous examples of students' work, this Australian resource describes ways in which students can view and represent information visually to clarify meaning, make connections, and enhance presentations.
"The book shows how visuals are useful for students with limited literacy proficiency, and how visual representation is valued as an assessment strategy. Included are examples of visuals such as webs, flow charts, maps, graphs, diagrams, and timelines, along with suggestions for their use to fulfill specific learning objectives.
"The book demonstrates how visual communication of information can help students summarize, organize, sequence, classify, and make comparisons. A table of contents, an index, and a brief list of student resources are included.
"Suggested Use: Teacher Reference
"Other Use: English Language Arts: Elementary Level; English Language Arts: Grades 6 to 9; Kindergarten"
Review posted August 1999
What is Visual Literacy?: An Inservice Video Workshop
Review by: University of Nebraska Center for Media Literacy
"Based on the outstanding activity book, I See What You Mean, Australian educator Steve Moline presents the basics of visual literacy and its place in the classroom, illustrating his points with real kids doing actual class projects. It is an absorbing and thought-provoking program that may be used by one viewer as a self-study introduction - or it can be the starting point of an excellent inservice workshop for a faculty or team of teachers."
I See What You Mean and What is Visual Literacy?
"A truly outstanding set of resources to support learning and teaching in today's visual culture. . . belongs on every elementary teacher's bookshelf." - Elizabeth Thoman, University of Nebraska Center for Media Literacy
Review posted January 2004
Review by:Connect: A Magazine of Teachers' Innovations in K-8 Science and Math
"Steve Moline uses the skills of an accomplished book designer and children's author to present ways in which children can create and use visual information. Topics include diagrams, flow charts, graphs, time lines, maps and tables. All of Moline's ideas are supported by examples of children's work so that the reader can see exactly how students develop visual information. This is a useful and provocative book for teachers."
Review by:TE-MAT Teacher Education Materials Project A Database for K-12 Mathematics and Science Professional Development Providers
"This book offers teachers a model for integrating words and visual information, as the author guides the reader through a variety of visual elements that enrich communication and are used to record ideas and data...
Each chapter provides a table listing the Purposes, Contexts, and Outcomes of the visual information technique discussed. These tables succinctly explain how and why each type of diagram is used. ...
Ideas for Using this Material
This material is a high quality resource for professional development providers who are helping teachers think about how to teach students to record their investigations in a student notebook or journal.
It could also be used to integrate mathematics/science and literacy, or in a study group to foster action research, both formal and informal.
Strategies presented could be embedded in professional development sessions where teachers are recording and using notebooks, thereby modeling how to introduce drawing to students as they use science/mathematics notebooks.
It could also be used by anyone wishing to enhance his/her assessment of student understanding with visual data.
Comments and Cautions
While the author does not specify for which age group the material is intended, all of the examples within the text are from students in grades K-6. In the chapter on Graphic Design, strategies are included for classes up to grade 8."
Review posted January 2001
On the book I see what you mean
On the Informazing series
On the Realization series
Links to more reviews are posted from time to time at ENC Eisenhower National Clearinghouse for Education, Ohio State University, USA
These four Realization books received the Australian Book Publishers Association Design Award "Best designed book for primary education purposes":
More about these books here.
