Visual & Graphic Texts

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Why it works

Much important information is conveyed through visual and graphic texts, charts, graphs, tables, infographics, diagrams, maps, timelines, and data visualizations, and comprehending them is a distinct and increasingly essential literacy, yet students often ignore, skim, or misread these, missing key information or drawing wrong conclusions. Reading visual texts well requires specific skills: understanding how different graphic forms work and what they are for, extracting information accurately, interpreting relationships and trends, integrating the visual with surrounding text, and critically evaluating them (visuals can mislead). These skills must be taught explicitly, they are not automatic, especially as information is increasingly visual and data-rich. Teaching comprehension of visual and graphic texts equips students to read the full range of texts they encounter in school, work, and life, including the critical evaluation of potentially misleading visuals.

The research: Research on visual and graphic literacy.

The run-of-show

Choose your slot. The agenda, timings, and length update to match.

The core activity: teach reading visual and graphic texts

Teachers leave teaching extraction, interpretation, and evaluation of visuals.

Pick a visual or graphic text (chart, graph, infographic, diagram, map).
Teach how that form works and how to extract information accurately.
Teach interpreting relationships and trends and integrating the visual with text.
Teach critically evaluating it (can it mislead?).

Visual texts must be read, and taughtCharts, graphs, infographics, and diagrams carry key information but are often skipped or misread. Teach students to read, interpret, integrate, and critically evaluate visual and graphic texts.

Facilitator notes

Teach how graphic forms work, and accurate extraction and interpretation.
Teach integrating with text.
Teach critical evaluation.

Assuming students can read visual texts leaves them missing or misreading key informationStudents often skip or misread charts, graphs, and infographics. Teach reading visual and graphic texts, extracting, interpreting, integrating, and evaluating, explicitly.

Adapt it

Elementary: simple graphs and diagrams, extract, interpret.
Secondary: complex visuals, trends, integration, evaluation.
All settings: how forms work, extract, interpret, evaluate.

Participant handout

One page for every teacher. Print it, or save it as a PDF.

K12 Academics · Professional Learning

Visual & Graphic Texts: read and evaluate

A distinct literacy: how graphic forms work, accurate extraction, interpretation, integration, and critical evaluation.

The visual or graphic text I teach (chart, graph, infographic, diagram, map):
How I teach the form and accurate extraction:
How I teach interpreting relationships and integrating with text:
How I teach critically evaluating it:
A visual text students need help reading:

Make it stick

Read and evaluate:

Teach reading visual and graphic texts.
Teach evaluating them.
Bring a visual-text lesson to the next PLC.

Common questions

Don't students just understand charts and graphs?

Often not, they skip, skim, or misread visual texts, missing information or drawing wrong conclusions. Reading charts, graphs, infographics, and diagrams is a distinct skill that must be taught explicitly.

What does reading visual texts involve?

Understanding how different graphic forms work, extracting information accurately, interpreting relationships and trends, integrating the visual with surrounding text, and critically evaluating them (visuals can mislead).

Why teach it now?

Information is increasingly visual and data-rich, and the skills to read and evaluate graphic texts are not automatic. Teaching them equips students to read the full range of texts, and to spot misleading visuals.