Think It, Read It, Picture It
Rationale:
Children need to be able to
comprehend what they read. An important step in comprehension is to gain a
deep meaning of the text by visualization. Teaching students to "see"
pictures in their head of the action and events occurring on paper in the books
and stories they read will enable them to gain deeper meanings and to think more
abstractly and creatively.
Materials:
-The
Random House Book of Poetry for Children;
Natalie Babbitt's Tuck
Everlasting; drawing paper; crayons or markers
Procedure:
1.
First, I will have the students review the concept
of silent reading. Teacher will ask, "Does anyone remember
the steps to reading silently?" Silent
reading is reading to yourself silently. You do not read the words aloud, but
you read them silently to yourself. Sometimes when readers are reading silently,
they may use their mouth to move like they are reading aloud, but no sounds are
actually coming from their mouth. It is just like normal reading but there are
no sounds being made.
2. The teacher will next
ask, "Has anyone ever read a story silently? Do you ever think about a picture
of what is happening while you are reading?" Sometimes we do this when we are
reading chapter books or books with little pictures. We use the words in the
text to help us visualize what is happening in the story. This skill is a great
skill that fluent readers use. It is called visualization. It is very important
because it helps readers comprehend the meaning of the text. Visualization
becomes more and more important the older you get because most adult books do
not have any pictures. Therefore, the readers have to make their own pictures
from their meaning.
3. "Now, I am going to read a poem for you. I want
you to close your eyes while I read and try to make a picutre in your head that
relates to what I am reading." Read a poem with a lot of imagery
like "The Wind" by James Reeves.
4. Ask the students to
think about the qualities that the wind possesses. They can refer back to
the poem if needed. Explain the concept of getting "through a doorway
without any key." "Does anybody think that they could get through a
doorway like that? Of course not, only the wind and air can because they
can move through small spaces.
5. Continue to pick apart
the poem and encourage students to "see" the lines of the poem it like "strip
the leaves from the great oak tree," "steal through a garden and not wake the
flowers," "seas I can move and ships I can sink," or "lie quiet as quiet."
Ask students to explain the images that they saw in their heads as the poem was
read. After the children talk about their pictures say, "That is great!
You are all learning how to visualize and this is going to make reading more
meaningful and exciting."
6. "Now we are going to read a passage from Tuck
Everlasting. Everyone turn to
page 60 and read the first two sentences of chapter 12 to yourselves silently."
Now, have the children take out paper and markers or crayons and draw what they
think the sky and sun looked like. Have students compare share and compare
drawings with one another.
7. For assessment I would break
the children down into small groups and give them several pages pre-selected
pages to reread, perhaps even an entire chapter and ask them to discuss the
pictures they visualized while reading it. I would sit in on each group's
discussion and question and comment as needed to ensure that the children were
able to comprehend and visualize effectively. I would also use a checklist
to monitor what the students were visualizing. Did they mention the
appearance of characters, setting, feelings/emotions, or the actions?
Using a checklist with this items would be helpful.
References:
Babbitt,
Natalie. Tuck Everlasting.
Sunburst. 1975.
Lesson by Lindsey Long "Imagine This." http://www.auburn.edu/rdggenie/chall/longrl.html
Prelutsky, Jack. The Random House
Book of Poetry for Children: A Treasury of 572 Poems for Today's Child.
1983.
Pressley, M., Johnson, C., Symons, McGoldrick, J.A. and Kurity, J.A. Strategies
That Improve Children's Memory and Comprehension of Text. 1989.
pp.9-10.