Using Art to Teach Literacy: Module Sample Lessons

Welcome to the Ackland Art Museum web version of Reading Seven of the East Carolina University professional development module Using Art to Teach Literacy. The four sample lesson plans to the left are part of a larger module available through ECU that offers classroom and art teachers an opportunity to earn continuing education units about teaching literacy and other subjects. For more information about the modules available, please go to the continuing education website at East Carolina University at http://www.coe.ecu.edu/reading/modules/.

This module was a collaborative effort between Dr. Katherine O'Connor, assistant professor of Elementary Education, Curriculum and Instruction at East Carolina University in Greenville, North Carolina; Debbie Huggins, art teacher at Wintergreen Intermediate School in Greenville, North Carolina; and Beth Shaw McGuire, Senior Educator at the Ackland Art Museum in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Ms. Huggins' lesson plan focuses on the work of Faith Ringgold as seen in her book Tar Beach and at museums around the country, including the High Museum of Art in Atlanta. The lesson plans developed by Dr. O'Connor and Beth Shaw McGuire use works of art from the Ackland Art Museum's permanent collection as examples. Both of these lessons could be facilitated as part of a gallery lesson at the Ackland Art Museum with the original works of art, or in the classroom as described. For more information about scheduling a gallery lesson, please see http://www.ackland.org/education/k12/single_visit.html. If you are a classroom teacher, and would like to have higher-resolution images for use in your classroom, please contact Beth Shaw McGuire at 919-962-0479 (voice) or 919