Improving Visual Literacy Skills Through News Photos

Abstract

News photos are one of the important materials used for improving visual literacy in language teaching. In the most recent Turkish language curriculum, standards related to visual literacy are included in all grade levels at the secondary stage of primary education. The purpose of the current study is to present the design, implementation, and evaluation processes of an activity that shows how news photos can be used in Turkish language lessons to enhance visual literacy skills. The activity was designed for the 6th grade students in line with the curriculum standard “Students are able to answer questions related to visuals.” and was developed as part of a lesson study. For this activity, 5 worksheets and 1 activity observation form related to 6 news photos awarded in various competitions were prepared and implemented. The findings show that students used higher order thinking skills in relation to visual literacy during the activity.