A Sunny Day to Visualize
Rationale:
Comprehension is an important key to reading. Once students
learn to comprehend what is being read, students are able to
learn about what they are reading. Today in class, the students
will learn how to visualize the text so that they are able to
picture what is going on in the text in their mind, which will
help them get a better understanding of what they are reading.
To teach the students how to effectively visualize, they will
learn how to read a text and visualize it in their minds. The
students will be able to come out of this lesson being able to
read a passage and draw together a visual image that will help
them have a better comprehension of the story.
Materials:
How to Eat Fried Worms
by Thomas Rockwell, paper and pencil, white board
Procedures:
“Today in class, we are going to learn how to
create an image in your mind of what you are reading so that
you will be able to create a movie inside your head to help
you understand what is going on while you read.”
”I am now going
to model for you how to create a great visual." The key to
visualization is while you are reading you should picture the
text inside your head creating a picture. For example, I am
reading a page all about how a boy slips on spilled milk than
hits his head. I will first picture a boy slipping on milk
than laying on the floor in pain. Do you see how I created a
movie inside my head from the text? With having an image
inside my head, it will help me have a better understanding of
what is going on in the text." I will then put the first page
of
How to Eat Fried Worms
by Thomas Rockwell on the projector and I will read aloud to
the students. After I finish reading. I will go over to the
white board and draw a visual picture of the summary of the
page. I will
then talk about my visual picture and explain why it
summarizes the page and helps me have a better understanding
of the text. For example, I will read page one which is all
about the boys getting in trouble so than I would model
visualization by drawing a picture on the board of a couple of
boys getting in trouble by their moms. I would than model how
I would answer two comprehension questions, what is going on
in the story and where is the story happening. “Do you see
students how I visualize? Now I want each one of you to try
this on your own.
Today I want you all to read four pages out of
How to Eat Fried Worms
by Thomas Rockwell.
This book is all about how a group of boys dared Billy Forester
to eat worms. Well even though Billy thought this was absolutely
ridiculous, Billy never turns down a dare. The whole bet was
that Billy had to eat 15 worms in 15 days. After Billy ate three
worms, he realized that he actually enjoyed them so his friends
became scared. Billy’s friends did everything they could to get
Billy to not go through with the bet. You will have to find out
if they found a way to stop Billy or does Billy end up winning
the bet. This book is great and I am excited for you to read
it!” Now I want you all to try on page 2 to visualize. I want
you to read page 2 and I want you to visualize in your head and
I want you all to draw a picture. When your done attempting to
draw, I will ask you to think about two questions to help you
see how well you comprehended the text. I will ask where are the
characters and what is happening in the story. After I ask the
questions, I will give you all think time and then I will call
on a couple of students.
The students then will receive their own copy of
How to Eat Fried Worms.
“I want you all to read pages 2 to 5. After each page, I want
you to draw a visual picture of each page and then write a
summary about why this picture helps you better understand the
text. By a summary, I want you to just explain why you chose to
create your visual. At the end of the reading, you all should
have four summaries and visuals. Remember to read silently which
is reading in your head and without saying anything. Also even
though we are focusing on visualization, do not forget the other
tools we have learned like sounding out, blending words, cross
checking, and fluency. Those tools will help you to create a
great visual.”
“Now I want you all to begin on page 2 and I will give you
thirty minutes to read all four pages. Remember to draw a visual
picture for each page and answer the two comprehension
questions.”
After the students have finished reading, I will pick up all
their work then I will model on the white board how I would
visualize each page as a group and then ask a couple of students
to present their own work. “Students now I will collect all your
visuals. I want you all to look up at the white board and we
will visualize all together.” As a class we will walk together
to create a visual for each page and I will draw it on the white
board. I will do this so that students will be able to see
visibly a great visual for the reading so that they can compare
it to their own visual.
I will then ask a couple of students to model their own
work to help students to see more examples for visualization. We
will have a group discussion the rest of the class about the
student’s visuals. The group discussion will be centered on
comparing their own visuals with the visuals we created as a
class. I want the students to see what they did right and wrong
so that they are able to improve next time we visualize.
Assessment:
I will assess the students by reviewing their visuals and seeing if their visuals correctly describes and shows their understanding of the text. I will also assess their answers to the two comprehension questions. I will also assess by listening to the group discussion about visualization and what they did right or wrong in their own visuals.
Resources:
Rockwell, Thomas. How to
Eat Fried Worms.
Random House Children’s Books; NY, 1973.
Susie R. Rodgers. Beginning
to Read:
Thinking and Learning
about Print. The Reading Genie Website: Let Your Mind Be the
Adventure!
http://www.auburn.edu/academic/education/reading_genie//doorways/rodgersrl.html.