Beyond the Text: Visual Images

The Common Core State Standards require students to be adept at interpreting information presented visually in addition to the information presented in the written text. To get a better idea of what your students will be expected to know check out the sample questions in this article.

It's clear that students will be expected to go beyond simply locating obvious facts presented on a map or diagram. Just as students will be expected to make and support inferences from text, they will be required to do a close reading of information that is presented visually. This will mean that teachers in the primary grades will need to push beyond the traditional map skills to higher order thinking with regard to visual information. A great example of this can be found in this sample lesson.