Seeing is Believing

Reading to Learn Design

Carrie Sanders

 



Rationale:  For better comprehension when reading, children should be able to visualize what they are reading.  In this lesson, students will be introduced to the idea of visualizing images while they read.  This will hopefully improve their comprehension.

 

Materials: Multiple copies of the poem,  The Night Before Christmas, multiple copies of the book Freckle Juice, crayons, paper

 

Procedures:

 

  1. TODAY WE ARE GOING TO WORK ON VISUALIZING WHAT WE READ.  CAN ANYONE TELL ME WHAT VISUALIZATION IS? IT IS WHEN YOU IMAGINE WHAT THE PLACE OR PERSON YOU ARE READING ABOUT LOOKS LIKE.
  2. STUDENTS, NOW TAKE YOUR POEMS OUT.  READ TWAS THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS TO YOURSELVES SILENTLY. THAT MEANS WITH NO NOISE OR TALKING OF ANY KIND TO YOUR NEIGHBORS.
  3. NOW I AM GOING TO READ THE POEM OUTLOUD TO YOU.  AS I READ IT, CLOSE YOUR EYES AND VISUALIZE THE COLORS AND PEOPLE IN YOUR HEAD.
  4. Ask the students questions such as: What was the weather like in the poem?  What did Santa Claus’ suit look like?  Describe the night and all the sounds of the house.
  5. NOW, I WANT YOU TO RAISE YOUR HANDS AND SHARE SOME OF YOUR THOUGHTS ABOUT THE POEM. DESCRIBE ALL THE THINGS THAT YOU VISUALIZED.
  6. WE ARE NOW GOING TO READ FROM THE BOOK FRECKLE JUICE.  EVERYONE TURN TO PAGE 1 AND READ THE FIRST PAGE SILENTLY. (Make sure all children have crayons and paper at this time.)  NOW, DRAW A PICTURE OF WHAT YOU VISUALIZE FROM THIS PAGE. TRY AND DRAW WHAT THE LITTLE BOY, ANDREW, LOOKS LIKE FROM THE BOOK’S DESCRIPTIONS.

 

Assessment:  Have the children pick a passage of their own choice from the book.  Tell them to write down the passage they choose.  Then have them visualize their passage and draw about it on their paper.  Afterwards, allow them to get in pairs and evaluate each other.   Base the evaluations on details they put into their drawings and accuracy dealing with what they read.

 

Resources:

www.auburn.edu/rdggenie/inroads/jacksonrl.html. Jackson, Angel.  Seeing What You’re

            Reading!

 

Blume, Judy.  Freckle Juice.  Bantam Doubleday Dell Books for Young Readers, 1978.

 

Moore, Clement Clark.  “The Night Before Christmas”. New York:  The New York Book 

            of Poetry, 1836.

 

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