Picture Perfect!
Reading
to Learn-Comprehension Strategies
Rationale: Students learn to read and
eventually they have to read to learn. It is important to give
students the techniques that they need to master in order to have
excellent comprehension when they read. Children will learn to
picture in their heads and when children learn to picture what
they read, they also comprehend what they read by remembering the
pictures that they can make in their heads. They can change their
picture based on what they pick up throughout reading until their
visualizations are "Picture Perfect"! Students will visualize and
draw their thoughts.
Materials:
Pencils
Crayons or markers
Paper (two pieces for per child)
Book for each student: “The Friendship” by
Taylor, Mildred
Procedure:
1. Describe
and explain visualization to my students. We are going to learn
how to make pictures in our minds from the things we read. This is
called visualization. It is simply making a picture in your head,
like you would make a picture on paper. This can help us remember
what we learn. Before we begin, let's review some vocabulary. We
see the words pitchfork, bedding, and damp in the text. A
pitchfork is a tool that farmers use to move hay. It is shaped
like a large long fork. In our book, it says that Papa leaned
against his pitchfork. He must have been moving some hay
beforehand." Finish reviewing other vocabulary.
2. Talk
about the words loom and crossroads. Let’s look at the word loom.
The word loom means to hover or float over in a scary way. Listen
to a sentence: The storm clouds loomed over the city. A
non-example: The sun does not loom over the field on a pretty day.
Which is more like the word loom? A dark forest or a sunny valley?
3. Model
how to visualize things that I hear and read. If I see or read the
word "Beach", I picture the sand and the waves. I picture colorful
beach houses and swim suits. If I read the sentence "I spent a
week at the beach", I can draw a picture in my mind. Let me show
you what I see in my mind. I will draw a picture of what I see in
my mind.
4. Book talk: This book about Cassie and her
brothers and their family. The family is not allowed go to the
Wallace family store. They can’t even talk to the Wallace family!
Let’s read to find out what happened to make the Wallace family
and Cassie’s family upset with one other.
5. We
will have practice with my assistance. Start by listening to me.
Close your eyes and try to make a picture in your head of what I
am saying. “The cat pounced off the high step down onto the floppy
clumsy puppy." Did you see a picture? Tell me about it. This week
we are reading “The Friendship”. Turn to page 16 and 17. This
time, close your eyes again while I read this paragraph. Listen
closely to the words and the descriptions. Read the first
paragraph and have students draw their own visualizations on their
own. Let them share with each other and the class. Next, have
students read the
following paragraph on their own and draw their visualizations as
they read. Ask student to compare and see how their pictures are
alike and different. Students can also write words about their
picture.
6. Allow
the students to have individual practice time. They will continue
reading page 16 and writing what they see. On one side of the
paper they will draw visualizations, on the other side, they can
describe the picture. The description must be written in their own
words and explain the picture that is uniquely their own. Assess
by checking students work and observing the images drawn.
Resources:
-Griffin,
Evelyn. "Pictures Bring Back Memories."
http://www.auburn.edu/academic/education/reading_genie/invitations/griffinrl.htm
-Freeman,
Taylor."A Picture's Worth 1,000 Words" http://www.auburn.edu/academic/education/reading_genie/doorways/freemantrl.htm
-Adams, Marilyn. Beginning to Read. Thinking
and Learning about Print. 1990. Center for the Study of Reading.
Return to Spring Awakenings on The Reading Genie: http://www.auburn.edu/academic/education/reading_genie/awakenings.html