Creative Minds
Reading to Learn
Rationale:
The goal of this lesson is to teach students how to visualize while reading, an
important comprehension skill. This is especially important as the students
reach higher grade levels and become fluent readers. Because they do not have
pictures anymore, they need to use creative thinking in order to have a picture
in their mind of the characters and settings of the book and comprehend the
information they are reading.
Materials:
Copy of Secret Letters From 0 to 10 for each student
White paper
Crayons/colored pencils/pencils
Rubric
Procedures:
1. "Good morning, class! Today, we are going to talk about visualization. Does
anyone know what that word means? It is a very important skill to have when
reading books, especially ones without pictures. It means you come up with a
picture in your mind of the characters, setting, and anything else from the
book.
2. First, I will do an example with you. As I say this sentence, I am going to
visualize the scene and draw it on the board while you draw it on your paper. 'A
boy and girl sat on the shore of the lake with fishing poles. It was late
afternoon, so the sun was setting and the water was very calm.' What did you
draw? How did you know what to draw? Have you been fishing before, or did you
have to use what you know from television? If you look around, you may notice
that everyone's pictures are different, but that is how visualization works!"
3. Today, we are going to begin reading Secret Letters from 0 to 10.
Ernest is a ten-year-old boy who does the same things every single day. One day,
a new girl, Victoria, joins his class and he becomes friends with her. Suddenly,
Victoria gets Ernest into all kinds of adventures. Will they stay best friends
and will she get him in trouble?
4. Before we start reading the book, I want to go over a few difficult
vocabulary words you may come across while reading: immaculate, methodically,
disintegrate, utilitarian.
First, I will discuss immaculate.
Immaculate means perfectly clean, neat, or tidy.
The example from the book is, "It could have been a closet or a cell in an old
prison: just a bed, a table, a chair, and a closet, all in
immaculate order.
Which is immaculate, a pig pen or a
museum display of a farm?
Completion sentence: My bedroom was
immaculate because ____.
5. Now, I want you to begin reading chapter one silently. As you are reading,
begin visualizing the characters, their homes, and any other settings the book
mentions. When you are finished with chapter one, I want you to illustrate at
least one scene from the chapter. Write a short description under your picture
so we know what scene it is. We will share our pictures once everyone is
finished to see how we each visualized the chapter.
Assessment:
I will assess the students' comprehension by looking at their drawings and
sentences. I will use the following checklist:
1. Student's illustration accurately reflects a passage from the
chapter. Yes No
2. Student is able to orally explain their drawing and the part of the story it
represents. Yes No
3. Student's statement demonstrates a clear understanding between the statement
and the illustrations that pertain to a passage within the
chapter. Yes No
4. Student includes each of the characters from the chapter in his/her
illustration. Yes No
References:
Castleberry, Megan. Picture This, Picture That, Paint a Picture in Your Mind!
http://www.auburn.edu/academic/education/reading_genie/doorways/castleberrymrl.htm
Rogers, Susie. Let Your Mind Be the Adventure!
http://www.auburn.edu/academic/education/reading_genie/doorways/rogersrl.htm
Morgenstern, Susie. Secret Letters From 0
to 10. New York. Puffin Books (1998)