8 T H I N T E R N A T I O N A L T E C H N O L O G Y, E D U C A T I O N AND DEVELOPMENT CONFERENCE

CHILDRENS PLAYS AND ILLUSTRATIONS: EMBODIMENT RESOURCES FOR READING PRACTICES

Valencia 10th - 12th March 2014

Isabel Pinto (CECC, UCP) Arcngela Carvalho (ESE Almeida Garrett)

CHILDRENS PLAYS AND

ILLUSTRATIONS:
EMBODIMENT RESOURCES FOR READING PRACTICES

GOALS

Enlightening the role played by illustrations in the reading

of plays as means to an improved meaning assessment.

Driving a new range of clues for constructing textual

meaning, through embodied reading practices. Arguing for the relevance of embodied cognition and

embodied pedagogy as core concepts.

MAIN ARGUMENT
The relationship between drama and illustration, through imitation and gesture, is a promising one in terms of reading achievements, at the level of textual interpretation.

THE PLAYS
Teatro s Trs Pancadas [Theatre with Three Punches] (2013), by Antnio Torrado, and illustrated by Antnio Pilar, read at the 4th grade; O Prncipe Nabo [The Turnip Prince] (2000), by Ilse Losa, and illustrated by Manuela Bacelar, read at the 5th grade; Os Piratas [The Pirates] (1997), by Manuel Antnio Pina, read at the 6th grade.

PLAY
Os Piratas [The Pirates],
Antnio 1997, p. 47 Manuel Pina

OS PIRATAS [THE PIRATES]

The plot: two teenagers, Manuel and Ana, and Manuels
mother, are caught up in a time thread, with events from the past interfering with the present in such a way as to make

dream and reality collide.

The illustrations are scenery and costume sketches, helping the reader pull together on his own a setting and a mood for the plot.

PLAY
O Prncipe Nabo
[The Turnip

Prince], Ilse Losa

2000, p.31

O PRNCIPE NABO [THE TURNIP PRINCE]

The plot: the king wishes to find a prince to marry his

daughter princess Beatriz. But she mocks all the princes that
want to marry her. As a result, she will end up marrying the first man entering the palace.

The

illustrations

in

bright

colors

depict

scenery

arrangements, constantly alluding to the puppet theatre, thus underlining the power of make believe.

PLAY
A Raposa e o Corvo
[The Fox and the

Raven] in Teatro s Trs Pancadas

[Theatre with Three

Punches], Antnio
Torrado 2012, p. 41

TEATRO S TRS PANCADAS [THEATRE WITH THREE PUNCHES]

The book contains seven short plays that, according to the author himself, aim at satisfying teachers needs of appropriate plays for school staging.

The illustrations add something of its own to the play,

giving a number of clues and hints concerning the staging process.

DRAMATIZING ILLUSTRATION
An intervention was conducted, namely an interview, comprising different phases, in a school in the Lisbon area, with

two students from the 4th grade of primary school, about two
illustrations of O Prncipe Nabo [The Turnip Prince]. First, the students described the picture. Then, they were told

to enact what the illustration depicted. After that, they would

read the corresponding passage of the play.

RESULTS
Combining illustrations and plays prompts readers, mainly those in the first stages of reading development, to engage in a

first imaginary staging of the plot, additionally promoting textual

interpretation and analysis. At school illustrated plays make reading a matter of

performance, nourishing the complex relationship between

textual clues and the readers prior knowledge of the world.

FINAL REMARKS
The enactment of illustrations, through improvisation,

functioned as a first opportunity to collect meaningful clues for the reading of the text.

Embodied resources for reading practices rely on: (a) the

distinctive features of plays when compared with other genres, and (b) taking learning as a necessarily embodied

experience .

REFERENCES
Fang, Zhihui (1996). Illustrations, Text, and the Child Reader: What are Pictures in Childrens Storybooks for?.

Reading Horizons, Vol. 37, N. 2, 130-142.

Hassett, Dawnene D.; Curwood, Jen Scott (2009). Theories and Practices of Multimodal Education: The Instructional Dynamics of Picture Books and Primary Classrooms. The

Reading Teacher, 63(4), 270282.

REFERENCES
Perry, Mia; Medina, Carmen (2011). Embodiment and Performance in Pedagogy Research: Investigating the Possibility of the Body in Curriculum Experience. Journal of Curriculum

Theorizing, Vol. 27, N. 3, 62-75.

Pinto, I. (2009). Leitura do Texto de Teatro: Teoria, Prtica e

Anlise. Dissertao de doutoramento, na especialidade de Estudos

de Teatro, apresentada Faculdade de Letras da Universidade de
Lisboa.