Teaching with Visual

Symbols

Corpuz and Lucido

Kinds of Visual symbols:

1. drawings
2. cartoons
3. strip drawings
4. diagrams
5. formulas
6. charts
7. graphs
8. maps and globes
Read these words. Analyze them for
meaning without referring to the graphs.

1. …Believing that it is very important to be very

well-off financially, and having seen their
affluence ratchet upward little by little over four
decades, are American now happier?
 The research finding shows that
those reporting themselves “very
happy” has, if anything, declined
slightly between 1957 and 1998 from
35 to 33 percent, twice as rich but not
happier.
Figure 10. Happiness Data
2. Self-esteem scores among Canadians and
Japanese-A research team led by Steven Heine
(1999) found scores on a North American self-
esteem inventory are higher among Anglo-
Canadians than Japanes who have never left
Japan. As Japanese and other Asians
experience Canada’s culture, their self-esteem
becomes Westernized.
 Which was easier to understand? The
words or the graphs?

Abstraction:
A graph is “worth a thousand words.”
A. Drawings
A drawing may not be the real thing but better to
have a concrete visual aid than nothing.

One essential skill that a teacher ought to possess

in order to be understood is drawing. It helps
you a lot if you are capable of doing simple
freehand sketching.
Samples of stick
drawings:
B. Cartoons
A first rate cartoon tells its story
metaphorically.
• A perfect cartoon needs no caption
• The less the artist depends on words, the
more effective the symbolism.
• The symbolism conveys the message.
Examples of cartoons:

Interpret the cartoon above. Any message?

Any insight? Share with the class.
Examples of cartoons:
Sources of Cartoons:

• Newspapers
• magazines
Sketching cartoons:

1. Start with simple shapes and add details.

Note changes in expression.
Where to use Cartoons in
Instruction?

you can also use this as a

springboard for a lesson or a
concluding activity.
RBEC Competency

Go back to the RBEC. Which can be

taught with the use of a cartoon? Come up
with a cartoon for a particular lesson.
C. Strip Drawings
• These are commonly called comics or comic
strip

Any insight derived from the cartoon? Share. Did you

have a similar experience?
Where to use Strip Drawing
in Instruction
These can serve as motivation and a
starter of your lesson. It can also be given as
an activity for students to express insights
gained at the conclusion of a lesson.
Sources of Strip Drawing

• Newspapers
• Magazines
• Books
RBEC Competency

Identify a competency where a strip

drawing is appropriate. Look for an
appropriate strip drawing or make one.
D. Diagrams
• It is “any line drawing that shows arrangement
and relations as parts of the whole, relative
values, origins and development, chronological
fluctuations, distribution, etc” (Dale, 1969)
• To emphasize the key points in your diagram,
make use of color whether you use the
chalkboard or the OHP and transparencies.
Example of a Diagram
Types of Diagrams
1. Affinity Diagram – used to cluster complex apparently
unrelated data into natural and meaningful groups
2. Tree Diagram – used to chart out, in increasing detail,
the various tasks that must be accomplished to complete
a project or achieve a specific objective
3. Fishbone Diagram – also called cause-and-effect
diagram. It is a structured form of brainstorming that
graphically shows the relationship of possible causes and
subcauses directly related to an identified effect/problem.
It is most commonly used to analyze work-related
problems.
E. Charts
• It is a diagrammatic representation of
relationships among individuals with an
organization.
Examples of Chart
• Time chart – is a tabular time chart that
presents data in ordinal sequence.
• Tree or Stream Chart – depicts development, growth
and change by beginning with a single course (the trunk)
which spreads out into many branches; or by beginning
with the many tributaries which then converge into a
single channel.
• Flow Chart – is a visual way of charting or showing a
process form beginning to end. It is a means of
analyzing a process. By outlining every step in a
process, you can begin to find inefficiencies or problems.
(Latta, 1994)
• Organizational Chart – shows how one part of
the organization relates to other parts of the
organization.
• Comparison and contrast Chart – used
to show similarities between two things.
• Pareto Chart – a type of bar chart, prioritized in
descending order of magnitude or importance from left to
right. It shows at a glance which factors are occurring
most.
• Gannt Chart – an activity time chart.
RBEC Competency

Find out which of these charts are

appropriate for any lesson in the RBEC or
for any teaching-related task.
F. Graphs

• Circle or pie graph

• Bar graph
• Pictorial graph
• Line graph
• Pie or Circle graph – recommended for
showing parts of whole.
• Bar Graph – used in comparing the magnitude
of similar items at different ties or seeing relative
sizes of the parts or a whole.
• Pictorial graph – makes use of picture
symbols.
Graphic Organizers
RBEC Competency

In which lessons can you use each

of these graphs?
G. Maps

• It is a “representation of surface of the

earth and some part of it” (Dale, 1969)
KINDS OF MAPS
• Physical map – combines in a single
projection data like altitude, temperature,
rainfall, precipitation, vegetation, and soil.
• Relief map – has three dimensional
representations and show contours of the
physical data of the earth or part of the
earth.
• Commercial or economic map – also called
product or industrial map since they show
land areas in relation to the economy.
• Political map – gives detailed information
about country, provinces, cities and towns,
roads and highways. Oceans, rivers and
lakes are the main features of most political
maps.
MAP LANGUAGE
• Scale – shows how much of the actual earth’s surface
is represented by a given measurement on a map. The
scale must be shown so that the map reader can use
the distances and areas shown on the map in
measuring or figuring out the real distances and areas
on the earth’s surface. On some maps, scale is shown
graphically. In others the scale is expressed in words
and figures.
Example:
1 inch=15 statute miles
• Symbols – usually a map has a legend
that explains what each symbol means.
Some symbols represent high-ways,
railroads, mountains, lakes and plains.

• Color – the different colors of the map are

part of the map language.
• Geographic grids – the entire system of these
grid lines are called grid lines. These grid lines
are meridians and parallels. A meridian is a
north to sought pole line. Parallels are lines
drawn around a globe with all points along each
line with an equal distance from the pole.
Longitude is the distance in degrees of any
place east or west of the prime meridian.
Latitude is the distance in degrees of any place
north and south of the equator.
A Map-Reading Test
A number of studies have been made of the ability of
pupils to read maps and, in general, the findings are
disappointing. Many students have to mastered simple
map-reading skills before they leave junior high
school. Further, studies show that geographical errors
common to pupils are also common among teachers.
Encircle T if the statement is correct and F if the
statement is wrong. (Adapted form Audiovisual
Methods in Teaching, by Edgar Dale, (1969).
1. Lines of longitude are parallel to each other T F

2. On a globe all lines of latitude meet at the poles T F

3. A degree of longitude ranges from 68.4 to 69.4 miles T F

4. Longitude is usually measured from Greenwich, T F

England
5. Latitude is measured form the equator. T F

6. The latitude of the poles is 90 degrees. T F

7. The hours of daylight in summer and winter are T F

related to longitude
8. Places at low latitudes usually have warm climates T F
9. Time belts are directly related to longitude T F
10. The latitude of a place indicates its distance form T F
the equator.
11. The highest latitudes are around the poles. T F
12. A place not on the equator must be either north T F
or south of it.
13. Lines of longitude bisect the earth. T F
14. Latitude means angular distance north or south T F
of the equator.
15. Longitude 0 degrees defines an exact place on T F
the earth
16. Lines of latitude are parallel to the equator. T F
17. Latitude 90 degrees N defines an exact place T F
on the earth
18. Any place not on the Greenwich, Meridian is T F
either east or west of it.
19. A place at 40 degrees latitudes is about T F
1,000….., 3,000….., 5,000…., 8,000….., miles
from the equator
20. A line of longitude is also called a meridian T F
21. The longitude of a place gives a rough T F
indication of its climate.
22. A line of latitude is referred to as a parallel. T F
Understanding Maps, Graphs
and Charts
Steps that help one to be successful in
reading maps, charts and graphs:
1. Read the titles and subtitles. They will often
tell you the purpose of the graphic materials
and may provide a clue to its main idea.
2. Read the key, and/or the legend, and the
scale of miles whenever any of these is
present.
3. Read the information shown along the side
and the bottom of graphs and charts and
tables, if any. This will help you understand
what quantities or qualities are being
presented or what comparisons are being
made. On maps, notice how the different
parts of the map are related to each other.
4. Determine your purpose for reading the
map, chart, table, or graph.