Picture It!
Design for Reading to
Learn
Rationale: Comprehension is the most important goal of
reading instruction. Furthermore,
research indicates that individuals who construct mental images as they
read
are more likely to comprehend text. In
this lesson, students will learn and practice constructing mental
images as
they read.
Materials:
Classroom
set of The Indian in the
Cupboard by Lynne Reid Banks
Copies of A Light Exists in
Spring by Emily Dickinson (first three stanzas).
White Paper
Pencils
Crayons
Markers
Procedures:
#1
– Review
silent reading. "Does everyone
remember what silent reading is?
Right! It is when you read words
without making a sound." Write Reading
silently helps me read faster on
the board. "First,
let’s practice reading this together out loud. Good.
Now let’s practice reading it silently.
Great Job! I didn’t hear a
sound!"
#2 – "Now
that I know you can all read silently, we are going to try something
new. I would like to read you a few lines
from
the poem A Light Exists in
Spring.
Read first stanza of poem. "As
I read these lines, I made a picture in my mind. I
saw a beautiful spring day.
The sky was blue, there were colorful flowers, and the sun was
shinning. This is called visualization. Now it is your turn
to try!
As I read the next few lines, I would like
you to picture or visualize what I am reading in your mind." Read
next stanza of poem and allow several
students to describe their visualizations.
#3 – Pass out
the poem to each student. Have students
practice visualizing as they read the third stanza of the poem silently
to
themselves. Allow several students to
describe their visualizations.
#4 – Pass out The
Indian in the Cupboard. "I
would like all of us to silently read the first chapter of this
book.
As you read, stop and take a moment to
create a picture of what you are reading in your mind.
#5 – After
reading the first chapter, the class will discuss their visualizations
with one
another.
Assessment: The students will be instructed to silently
read the next chapter of the book.
After reading, they will create a drawing of their visualization. I will use the following checklist to
determine whether each student used the visualization strategy to
improve his
or her comprehension:
Checklist
□
The student can
describe their visualization.
□ The drawing
represents ideas/events from the story.
□ The student
demonstrates comprehension of the story.
References:
Banks,
Lynne Reid.
(1982). The Indian in the
Cupboard. Harper
Trophy: New
York
Dickinson,
Emily. (1955). "A light exists in
spring."
Acuff, Kristin. "Open the
Doors to Imagination."
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