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Start-Up Activity
Show your class an assortment of graphics, perhaps printed out or projected on a screen. You can find a number of options at the Economist, Pew Research, or Daily Infographic.
As you present each graphic, give your students a moment to study it. Then ask, "What does this mean?" After students offer suggestions, discuss the graphic, its features, and its meaning.
Once students have responded to a number of graphics, ask them why this information didn't just get written out as articles. What's the point of graphics? Perhaps students will note that graphics
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are more interesting than text
-
contain a great deal of information in a small space
-
more efficiently relate that information
-
allow readers to see trends with their own eyes
-
work with text to show rather than tell
Students may well point out even more ways that graphics complement text. Tell them this chapter takes a closer look at reading graphics purposefully and will help them choose the right kinds of graphics for their own writing.
Also share with students a group of infographics, which show and tell information.
Think About It
“I think by drawing, so I'll draw or diagram everything from a piece of furniture to a stage gesture. I understand things best when they're in graphics, not words.”
—Robert Wilson
Start-Up Activity
Show your class an assortment of graphics, perhaps printed out or projected on a screen. You can find a number of options at the Economist, Pew Research, or Daily Infographic.
As you present each graphic, give your students a moment to study it. Then ask, "What does this mean?" After students offer suggestions, discuss the graphic, its features, and its meaning.
Once students have responded to a number of graphics, ask them why this information didn't just get written out as articles. What's the point of graphics? Perhaps students will note that graphics
-
are more interesting than text
-
contain a great deal of information in a small space
-
more efficiently relate that information
-
allow readers to see trends with their own eyes
-
work with text to show rather than tell
Students may well point out even more ways that graphics complement text. Tell them this chapter takes a closer look at reading graphics purposefully and will help them choose the right kinds of graphics for their own writing.
Also share with students a group of infographics, which show and tell information.
Think About It
“I think by drawing, so I'll draw or diagram everything from a piece of furniture to a stage gesture. I understand things best when they're in graphics, not words.”
—Robert Wilson
