Picture Supported Text and Impacts in the Classroom

Introduction

Let’s talk about the ever growing topic of picture supported text. When teaching students with Complex Communication Needs (CCN), ensuring our instruction intent matches the instruction’s impact on the student is essential. When intent and impact align, learning takes off. When intent and impact do not align, learning can stagnate. This article dives into the intent versus the impact of picture supported text in literacy instruction for students with CCN.

Evidence Based Practices?

Picture supported text involves pairing or replacing text with picture symbols. Researchers have questioned the evidence base behind picture supported text for decades, yet it is still highly prevalent in special education resources. You can find picture supported text within professional curriculum programs, online resources, and classrooms worldwide.

Proponents of picture supported text believe the symbols can benefit visual learners, build vocabulary, and aid comprehension. The intent behind utilizing picture supported text is to help students access information about the text from the images while reading. Let’s try this out ourselves!

Test Your Knowledge of Picture Supported Text

Review the short picture symbol supported paragraph below pulled from Jane Farrall’s blog on this topic! I hid the words to demonstrate how it would feel to a student who has yet to learn how to read. Try to read using the picture symbols. Write down your thoughts on what this paragraph says. 

You likely came up with something along the lines of: “Work picture school page wow help people who strong this read equal it add this read when colors walk play page we give a look.” 

Now, review the same text with the words present. 

Were you close? Did the picture symbols help you understand the vocabulary? Did the picture symbols aid your comprehension? Reflect on your experience reading based on the pictures and reading the same passage based on text.

Intent Versus Impact

Let’s go back to intent versus impact. If the intent of adding picture symbols to text is to build vocabulary and aid comprehension, did the impact match the intent? For me, someone with over fifteen years of experience with picture symbols, they did not. The picture symbols did not help me find the meaning or the correct vocabulary to understand this passage. Reading the paragraph felt confusing and choppy until the text was present to guide my thoughts.

The Research Continues

The research against picture supported text is growing, especially with the science of reading discussions. When listening to the Sold a Story podcast, it became clear that picture supported text is three cueing. Three Cueing is a strategy also known as MSV (Meaning, Structure, Visual), which reinforces prompting students to identify words by examining context and sentence structure.

Part of the strategy involves telling students to look at the picture when encountering a difficult word. Research has shown this ineffective strategy takes the student’s focus off the word itself, lowering their ability to recognize the word more automatically the next time they see the word. It teaches students to guess hard words instead of utilizing their decoding skills.

With the evidence base against three cueing and picture supported text growing. It has become increasingly clear that for literacy instruction, the intent of utilizing picture supported text does not match the impact for literacy instruction. In fact, it can be detrimental to students’ progress in becoming literate individuals.

Now what do I do?

Here is the tricky part – Research supports picture symbols for communication; images are vital for those who use Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) regarding communication. Picture symbols are fantastic for communication yet controversial in teaching reading. Emergent students need access to high-quality word study instruction encompassing alphabet knowledge, phonological awareness, and phonics to advance their literacy skills. So, if an activity intends to teach reading, do not use picture symbols; if the intent is to communicate with an AAC device, then use them! Keep doing what is best for you and your students!

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