As a mother and public elementary school art teacher, I recognize the impact images have in the lives of children. Our culture is image rich and often image saturated. I believe I can do more to prepare my students to become discerning consumers and creators of images. Art teachers are uniquely qualified to teach visual literacy and visual inquiry. If grade school children can be taught to think more deeply and critically about their visual world, they will be better prepared for responding to it in a healthy, empowering way. This research describes an elementary school curriculum based on teaching some of the elements of design that provides a framework for children to investigate important issues using their own visual language. This thesis also describes a research project that explored images and ideas that are important to children in their artmaking decisions. Both of these research projects offer a combined unique perspective on visual literacy, visual inquiry, and visual communication in the elementary school years.