Step 1: Explicit Teaching & Modelling
Name the target in child-friendly language and demonstrate one concrete example connected to image, visual, representation.
Learning goals
1. Outcome Overview & Core Concepts
An image may repeat a written idea, add information not stated in words, show mood or viewpoint, or help the reader infer what is happening.
Learning target: understand that images add to or multiply the meanings of a text
Big idea: Explain information, mood and ideas communicated by words and images together
Learning routine: Read words → Observe image → Notice new information → Combine meanings
4-Step Instructional Sequence
4. 4-Step Instructional Sequence
Step 2: Guided Analysis
Compare or practise a second example together. Students point to, say or show the clue.
Step 3: Collaborative / Independent Practice
Create or analyse one example together, then use a fresh familiar example independently.
Step 4: Formative Assessment
Use a one-minute check with a new example; require observable evidence rather than a guess.
Subject-Specific Content & Key Examples
2. Subject-Specific Content & Key Examples
Combine words and image clues
1Text: The path looked difficult.
2Image: steep rocks and dark clouds
3New meaning: danger and challenge
The image expands the written meaning rather than merely decorating the page.
Ask what the image contributes
setting detailcharacter emotionsequence cluescientific label
Name information gained from the image and combine it with the words.
Sort and notice
Cover the words, interpret the image, then reveal the text and compare meanings.
Guided practice
- Sort and notice — Cover the words, interpret the image, then reveal the text and compare meanings.
- Build or improve — Add a purposeful image plan to a short text and label what it contributes.
- Explain your choice — Use the words image, meaning, inference to explain what you changed and why.
Curriculum Coverage & Elaborations
Curriculum Coverage & Elaborations
The content description is the required target. The elaborations below are taught as examples and contexts, not as disconnected checklist wording.
- E1: identifying images and graphics in a text that add ideas or information not included in the written text; for example, a map or table in a factual text or an illustration in a story, which gives clues about the setting
- E2: identifying visual representations of characters’ actions, reactions, speech and thought processes in narratives, and considering how these images add to or multiply the meaning of accompanying words
Common Student Misconceptions
3. Common Student Misconceptions
- Calling every image decoration: Check whether the image adds information, mood or a clue.
- Ignoring the written text: Meaning often comes from combining both modes.
- Answer without evidence: Point to the word, sentence, image, sound pattern or text feature that supports the answer.
Practice Thought & Formative Assessment
Practice Thought & Formative Assessment
Use a fresh, code-aligned example. The student should show the exact word, sound, sentence, image feature, audience clue or text evidence that supports the answer.
Quick checks
- How can an image show mood?
- What is an image clue?
- Can an image add unstated information?
- Why combine words and pictures?
Mastery evidence
- Observe image details
- Read written meaning
- Identify added information
- Make an inference
Revision Notes
Revision Notes
- Remember: Explain information, mood and ideas communicated by words and images together
- Use the routine: Read words → Observe image → Notice new information → Combine meanings
- Before answering: point to the clue in the spoken words, written sentence, image, page layout or text purpose.
- Self-check: change the example slightly and see whether the same reasoning still works.
🎥 Optional Video Lesson
The SkillrHub lesson remains the primary learning resource. This optional video reinforces the explanation; you can complete the lesson and practice without watching.
Before you watch:
- Pause after each worked example.
- Try the examples yourself.
- Return to the SkillrHub lesson before continuing.
Recommended: How Illustrations Show Mood
Khan Academy Kids — Notice how illustrations add clues about feelings and atmosphere to a story.
As you watch: Which picture detail helps you understand the mood?
Load video player Loads YouTube in this lesson. See the video notice below.
Try it: Draw two pictures for “The child walked into the room”: one cheerful and one uneasy. Explain what the pictures add.
Video unavailable, inaccurate or unsuitable for this year? Report a video problem to SkillrHub by email. You can continue with the written lesson and practice resources.
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Curriculum equivalents: Victoria, NSW and international
Curriculum equivalents for That images add to or multiply the meanings of a...
Mapped skill: understand that images add to or multiply the meanings of a text
These references identify matching or closely related learning. Curriculum sequence, terminology and depth vary, so teachers should use the mapped skill and lesson difficulty to confirm suitability.
| Region | Curriculum framework | Closest level or code |
|---|---|---|
| Australia | Australian Curriculum v9.0 | AC9E2LA08 · Year 2 |
| Victoria | Victorian Curriculum F–10 Version 2.0 — English | VC2E2LA08 · Level 2 |
| New South Wales | NSW English K–10 Syllabus (2022) | EN1-RECOM-01 · Stage 1 |
| United States (USA) | Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts | Grade 2 |
| Canada (Ontario) | Ontario Curriculum — English | Grade 2 |
| United Kingdom (England) | National Curriculum in England — English | Year 3, Key Stage 2 |
| India | NCERT / CBSE — English | Class 2 |
Australian Curriculum v9.0 is the canonical source for this SkillrHub lesson. Victoria and NSW entries name the closest published state codes or outcomes; international entries are planning references rather than claims of identical curricula.
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Topic reference: AC9E2LA08 — AC9E2LA08: Understand that images add to or multiply the meanings of a text
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