 Visualize
Students will learn to visualize the details of a text. Students will use other sensory images to help them better understand what they read. Students remember vocabulary through visualizing. They dramatize to write. During this month, students explore using all their sensory images to connect and infer. Whereas we use and integrate all strategies while reading throughout the year, we spend the sixth month of school focusing our study of the proficient reader strategies on using our sensory images.
When readers create mental images, they engage in text in ways that make it personal and memorable to them alone. Anchored in prior knowledge, images come from emotions and all five senses, enhancing understanding and immersing the reader in rich detail.
Keene and Zimmermann, Mosaic of Thought
Getting Started: Call On All Senses to Understand
Engaged readers see pictures in their heads.
By teaching children to analyze what they imagine as they read, students learn to decode AND comprehend. Sometimes we forget that reading is about making meaning --- not just reading words and plowing ahead even when the text isn't making sense --- but really trying to understand by using all the proficient reader strategies.
Drawing During Read Aloud
One way to help children really see the connections they make to the words on a page is to let them draw while they listen to you read aloud. Their process can't be wrong: they can draw one picture, they can draw over several pages, they can draw in color or pencil, they can sequence their pictures. The key is to capture the events or ideas - what they see -not make beautiful, accurate illustrations. In addition, I want to show them that the pictures they see in their heads are ALWAYS things they've seen before (text to self, text to text or text to world connections). A child cannot imagine a chair if she's not seen one, for example. Therefore, the places where they have comprehension problems are usually where their schema breaks down. These ideas will surface in subsequent conversations.
So, the first time I introduce visualization, I give very little direction. I want to see what the children do: how much they understand of the task, whether each child even sees pictures as I read, and how they tackle sketching as I read. Some get frustrated and won't risk the work. Others draw information NOT in the book. Someone might segment her paper, draw in sequence, and do a complete retelling when finished. During this initial lesson, I observe. I assess. I debrief with the children so I will know what to do next. I included my lesson plan, "You Can't Be Wrong" on this page.
Recognizing mental images while reading is just the tip of what I teach during this month. Symbolization, illustration, rhyming and rapping, reader's theater, movement, singing, mind mapping, using graphic organizers, and studying the author's crafts of using exaggeration and description fit easily into our study of visualization. (See list, bottom of the page.)
Now is the time to practice.
I'm late to the visualization game as I became interested after I'd studied the other 6 strategies. Now, I realize the richness of reading and writing experiences for those who use both sides of their brains! Sadly, some adults report that they don't use their visualization strength to understand story or expository texts. They weren't taught how or that it was important. So, if you ever felt that teaching how to use all your sensory images is fluff, consider reading a book but not seeing any pictures in your mind. Imagine not being able to hold concepts in your long-term memory. It can happen for some students if we don't teach them. To start, assess your students like I suggest, talk, and go from there.
Two books that help a lot are Debbie Miller's Reading With Meaning and Susan Zimmermann's 7 Keys to Comprehension,. They are both easy to read and have lesson plans to try. A great idea book for guiding children to talk to one another is Knee to Knee, Eye to Eye by Ardith Davis Cole.
Sample Lesson: You Can't Be Wrong
Objective: Say something like, I'm going to read a book to you called The Bear's Toothache by David McPhail. I will not show you the pictures because I want you to visualize in your head and make some discoveries about visualizing. (The Bear's Toothache is one of my favorites to start teaching visualization but you can use any short read-aloud. I've included other favorites in a list at the bottom of the page.)
MINI LESSON (approximately 20-30 minutes)(This is my kindergarten lesson but it can be used with other grade levels with very little adaption.)
- Pre-Assessment:
- Turn to your partner and tell them everything you know about how you read. What do you think you do when you read?
- The teacher walks among the partners to see if someone mentions making pictures as a strategy for reading.
- Share whole group. If a child mentioned visualizing in any way, ask that child to explain her response to the class.
- Tell the group the objective for the day. Say something like, "While I read aloud, you will practice drawing the pictures in your heads on paper. The great thing is YOU CAN'T BE WRONG! What one person sees might not be what the next person sees. The way we draw does not matter. Using colors today is not important because we're going to sketch as QUICKLY as we can. However, if you see color in your mind and you want to put that in the picture, there are crayons ready for you.
- Model. The teacher reads the first page aloud and draws what she envisions on chart paper. The biggest point to make is that what the teacher is drawing is based on evidence in the text. In other words, the teacher is not making up ideas. The other point is that the teacher, and soon the students, should make quick sketches as best they can of the details they see in their heads.
- Ask the students if they're ready to try. Direct them to open their daybooks and draw what they see as the teacher reads. Start by reading the beginning of the book again to scaffold the task. (If students don't have daybooks, give them a couple sheets of unlined paper.)
- Read The Bear's Toothache with all the pictures covered up. Observe the students as they draw. Try limiting your encouragement so as not to take the focus off the task, to make children feel less anxious, and to encourage a variety of responses. For example, you might praise the fact that everyone is drawing in their own way or point to a student who draw what he hears as you read if you think that reader needs reassurance. But for the most part, stay quiet so students can settle in and tackle the task in their own way.
- I see xxxx thinking.
- I see xxxx drawing a pillow and the author mentioned a pillow.
- I see xxxx has lots of pictures on her page. She is drawing the whole time.
- I see xxxx drawing on a new page. That's okay, too.
- If you feel the children are doing just fine, continue reading, pausing for periods of time so that students can sketch what they're thinking. Watch them as they draw and then continue as you see most are ready to move on.
- Debrief. Bring the children to an exit circle. Show students drawings you've selected that illustrate different ways of approaching the task. Reassure the children all are fine. Highlight the variety of approaches for finishing the assignment: using one page and drawing one picture the whole time, segmenting the paper and drawing several pictures, drawing in sequence, using several pages to get all the thinking down. Reinforce that the thinking might be messy and different and no matter what, they all did well.
- Ask the children to get knee-to-knee and eye-to-eye with one or two partners. Say something like, Point to your picture and explain what you saw in your head to your partner(s). Talk to each other about what is the same and what is different. (Model how partners talk to one another if your students haven't done that before. Ask two children to sit in front of the group, list the steps, and let everyone watch so that each has a visual of what they will be doing in just a few minutes.)
- Read the book to the whole group again and show the pictures this time. Stop and ask literal questions like, what will happen next? What did she throw at the tooth? Also ask, did you think the bear would be hiding behind the door? Do your pictures look like the artists' pictures?
- Lead the children to understand that they could answer your questions about the text because they took time to visualize it. A second point to emphasize is that some pictures - like the author's drawing of what the bear looked like - involved inferring. That's how the illustrator saw the details. Not wrong. Not right. Just her privilege - and theirs - as long as they were drawing the author's words.
- Closure --- Say something like, readers try to see what's happening in the story by listening to the words and making pictures in their heads. Try that again when your parents read to you, or when I read to you, or when you read. We will talk more about mental imaging.
- Teacher's summary for older students, which will be the basis of this month's study:
- The author's details are the basis for your mental picture.
- The reader's background knowledge affects the reader's ability to visualize.
- The places where comprehension was difficult is usually due to a lack of background knowledge.
- No author can write every detail so the reader infers to fill in the gaps.
INDEPENDENT READING (approximately 35-40 minutes for introduction, reading and closure)
(Prepare a basket of books. Cover up all the pictures with sticky notes.)
- Say something like, As you read with your partner today, think about what you see in your head.
- Select books from this basket that have the pictures covered up with large sticky notes.
- Mark the places in the text where you saw a mental picture with the tiny sticky notes.
- Talk to your partner about what you see at agreed upon intervals - after each page, for example. Have fun discussing how your mental images are the same or different than your partner's even though you will be reading the same book.
- When you are finished reading, take off the large sticky notes and look at the pictures. Talk to your partner about how the visions in your heads were the same or different than the illustrations. Examine why.
- Cover the pictures again with the large sticky notes when you are finished so others can read your book as well.
- You should have time to read several books.
- Bring one book to share with the whole group at closure time. Mark where you visualized so you can tell the class about it.
- IMPORTANT STEP! Before students begin working on the assignment, bring two students to the front of the room to model how to follow all the steps so that children have a visual of what they are to do. The teacher may need to repeat the directions one at a time so students can clear up misconceptions.
- Teacher circulates around the room and checks in with partners. Teacher might pull one or more groups together during this time to read and talk about how visualization works to help comprehension.
SHARE TIME (approximately 20 - 30 minutes)
Children share examples of the picture(s) they saw in their heads, either with the whole group, small groups or partnerships. Ask them to describe their reaction when they saw the illustrator's pictures. Ask students to talk about whether they reread when they saw pictures different from their mental image.
ASSESSMENT: Ask, What's most important to remember when using visualization as a comprehension strategy? Lead students to see that their mind pictures need to be based on the author's words. When pictures don't match, they should use a fix-up strategy like rereading to see where the breakdown is. Also, since the author can't write every detail, readers have to infer to fill in the gaps. The inferences must be logical and based on the text.
If time, students tell a partner what they learned about visualization as a reading strategy or record their learning in their daybooks to revisit the next day.
OTHER MENTAL IMAGING ACTIVITIES
Building prior knowledge - showing pictures and film clips so students see what they will be reading about.
Interpreting photographs and other visuals - requires students find connections between the details and the main ideas of the topic.
Vocabulary - drawing symbols to remember content words.
Writing the climax of the story - trying to get the movies of the mind on paper in sequenced, slow-motion detail.
Onomatopoeia - examining the author's technique for making sounds.
Reading/writing to music - to determine mood.
Drawing illustrations from text - requires rereading and checking facts, which improves comprehension.
Illustrating first; writing text to go with the picture - requires making sure the details in the illustration match the details in the text.
Cartoons - changing text into cartoons requires that students condense the story into steps, which involves much discussion about what's most important. Changing contentious topics into political cartoons requires extensive conversations about main ideas and beliefs.
Mind mapping --- taking notes or reviewing by writing words and drawing symbols forces students to find their own connections among the details and concepts.
Graphic Organizers - sorting the details and main ideas of text in predetermined ways.
Poetry reading - drawing what the reader sees, feels, imagines to make sense of poetry.
Rap - creating rhyme from story requires rereading, constant checking of facts, and therefore improved comprehension.
Singing - changing story to song requires boiling the selection down to it's very essence, thereby improving comprehension.
Reader's Theater - performing texts requires reading accurately and seeking to understand author's purpose, main ideas, character motivation, and themes.
Drama - acting out stories requires rereading for detail, which builds comprehension. Acting out selections students write requires rereading to find lapses and then revising.
Newscasts or plays - rewriting the text as a newscast is great for exploring dialogue and motivation and all aspects of characterization and perspective.
Puppets - for retelling or creating new interpretations and perspectives.
MY FAVORITE BOOKS
Big, Big Sea by Jennifer Eachus
Bear's Toothache by David McPhail
Bedhead by Marge Palatini and Jack E. Davis
Night in the Country by Cynthia Rylant
The Salamander Room by Anne Mazer
The Napping House by Audrey Wood
chapter 9 and 10 of Tuck Everlasting By Natalie Babbitt
Top Secret by John Reynolds Gardiner
Red Riding Hood (works well for acting out)
Miss Nelson is Missing by Harry G. Allard (Author), James Marshall (Illustrator)
Fireflies by Julie Brinkloe
Good Dog Carl by Alexandra Day - wordless picture book
I'm in Charge of Celebrations by Byrd Baylor
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