Can You See What I See?

Laurin Lee

            Rationale: To become expert readers, children need learn an important skill to comprehend what they are reading. Visualization is one way readers can build comprehension. This is important for students so they can have “a movie” of what’s going on throughout their reading. When readers can actively engage themselves in the story, they are able to grasp the meaning of the text. This lesson will help students learn to visualize by creating mental pictures in their mind. Students will listen and read to practice this.

            Materials:

Class Copies of Shel Silverstein’s Cloony Clown poem

A Box Can be Many Things by Dana Rau Class Copies

Drawing paper and crayons

Assessment Checklist

            Procedure:

1.    “Today we are going to do something called visualize. Does anyone know what this means?” Allow for student’s answers. “Well, this means to read and see a picture or movie in our mind. I am going to say a sentence and I want you to close your eyes. Once I am done reading, I want you tell me what you see.”

I was awoken to the smell of hickory bacon and sweet cinnamon rolls. I knew that there would be fresh squeezed orange juice, and gravy for our biscuits.

      “What did you see from this sentence I said?” Discussion. “That’s right; you may have seen your mom cooking a big breakfast with delicious bacon, and orange juice. What you just did was visualize.”

2.    “When we read to ourselves, what do we call this?” Silent reading. “That’s right, silent reading. We do this so we can read as much as we want, quietly so we don’t bother anyone else.” We are going to silent read a poem by Shel Silverstein.

3.    Have students silent read the poem “Cloony the Clown.” Allow time for students to read the poem. “When I read this poem I saw a clown that was unfunny, but he was sad. I got this from the poem because it said that he was floppy and sloppy, and unfunny and made everyone cry.” Show a picture of what you drew previously, have students share what they pictured.

4.    Give students a copy of  A Box Can be Many Things. “This book is about a little boy who finds a box his mom has thrown out. The boy makes the box many things, let’s read to find out all the exciting things he discovers.”  Have students read the book silently, or back and forth with a partner. Once the students read through the book, have them draw a picture of what they just read. Let students share their drawings.

Assessment:

Have students come to the front of the class and explain their drawings. Assess students with a checklist.

Students accurately depicted the story using pictures.

Students accurately retold the story.

References:

“Can You See It?” Abby Smith. Perspectives. http://www.auburn.edu/academic/education/reading_genie/persp/smitharl.html

Shel Silverstein Cloony Clown poem

A Box Can be Many Things by Dana Rau

illustrated by Paige Billin-Frye

Series: Rookie Reader ? Level B

Cloony The Clown by Shel Silverstein
I'll tell you the story of Cloony the Clown
Who worked in a circus that came through town.
His shoes were too big and his hat was too small,
But he just wasn't, just wasn't funny at all.
He had a trombone to play loud silly tunes,
He had a green dog and a thousand balloons.
He was floppy and sloppy and skinny and tall,
But he just wasn't, just wasn't funny at all.
And every time he did a trick,
Everyone felt a little sick.
And every time he told a joke,
Folks sighed as if their hearts were broke.
And every time he lost a shoe,
Everyone looked awfully blue.
And every time he stood on his head,
Everyone screamed, "Go back to bed!"
And every time he made a leap,
Everybody fell asleep.
And every time he ate his tie,
Everyone began to cry.
And Cloony could not make any money
Simply because he was not funny.
One day he said, "I'll tell this town
How it feels to be an unfunny clown."
And he told them all why he looked so sad,
And he told them all why he felt so bad.
He told of Pain and Rain and Cold,
He told of Darkness in his soul,
And after he finished his tale of woe,
Did everyone cry? Oh no, no, no,
They laughed until they shook the trees
With "Hah-Hah-Hahs" and "Hee-Hee-Hees."
They laughed with howls and yowls and shrieks,
They laughed all day, they laughed all week,
They laughed until they had a fit,
They laughed until their jackets split.
The laughter spread for miles around
To every city, every town,
Over mountains, 'cross the sea,
From Saint Tropez to Mun San Nee.
And soon the whole world rang with laughter,
Lasting till forever after,
While Cloony stood in the circus tent,
With his head drooped low and his shoulders bent.
And he said,"THAT IS NOT WHAT I MEANT -
I'M FUNNY JUST BY ACCIDENT."
And while the world laughed outside.
Cloony the Clown sat down and cried.