Imaginations on the Run!
Reading to Learn
Rationale:
Comprehension is an
essential component of reading. In order for students to become
successful readers, it is important that they develop comprehension
strategies and construct meaning from the text that they are reading.
One of the most effective comprehension strategies available for
students to use is visualization. Visualization is a strategy that
involves the reader constructing images inside their mind based on the
text they are reading. When readers visualize a text, they are able to
devise a mental construct of the text, and will be able to make it more
memorable and easy to understand. In this lesson, students will learn
to use visualization strategies to aid in their comprehension of the
text. They will practice constructing these visualizations while
reading, and then will convey what they have learned through
illustrations (their visualizations) and explanations of the text.
Materials:
Drawing paper
Crayons
Colored Pencils
Class set of
There's a Boy in the Girl's Bathroom
by Louis Sachar
Overhead with Poem
Toot! Toot!
A peanut sat on a railroad
track,
His heart was all a-flutter;
The five-fifteen came
rushing by ���
Toot! Toot! Peanut Butter!
-
Anonymous
Assessment checklist
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Criteria |
Yes |
No |
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Students include characters from
the chapter in illustration. |
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|
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Student's illustration accurately
reflects a passage from the chapter. |
|
|
|
Student statement has a clear
correlation between the statement and the illustration that pertain to
a passage within the chapter. |
|
|
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Student pays attention to detail. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Procedures:
1. I will begin this lesson
today by reviewing silent reading with my students.
Say: Today we are going to work on something that is
very important part to being a skillful reader, but first we are going
to practice something very easy���silent reading.
Have the students pull out any kind of book they would like
to read and have them read for 2 minutes. This is just to review silent
reading. Say: Now, something that is very
important to being a skillful reader is comprehension.
Can anyone tell me what comprehension
means? Great! It means being able to understand and make sense of what
you have read. But sometimes this can be hard to do if there are not
any pictures or clues to help us better understand what we are going to
learn a special trick.
2. Say:
Ok, let's talk about this special trick. It's called visualization.
Visualization is when you picture in your head what is happening in the
book that you are reading. It's very important to learn to do this
because if you can't remember what you read, you won't understand what
is going on in the story or learn new things.
3. Say:
Alright, now we are going to practice our special trick. I am going
to read a poem and while I do this, I want you to close your eyes and
listen. Picture in your mind what the poem is talking about.
Read poem Toot! Toot! Say: As I read the poem I
thought about a peanut sitting on the railroad tracks and then the
train coming by and squishing it. Ask for a few volunteers
to share what they visualized.
4. Say:
You are all doing great job visualizing what you are reading. Now
it's your turn to read a book and tell me what you visualize.
Pass out books and give book talk.
Book talk: Bradley Chalkers is the oldest kid in fifth
grade. He tells lies, picks fights with girls, and all of the teachers
think he has a serious behavior problem. Nobody likes him. Will Bradley
become nice and get friends or will he forever be "the bad kid?" Let's
read to find out.
5. Say:
Now, I want you to read the first chapter of the book silently.
While you are reading, use your special trick to help you understand
what you are reading. When you finish reading that chapter, take out
your drawing paper and make an illustration of what you visualized in
your head. You may use your colored pencils and crayons to add detail
to your illustrations. Once you have completed your drawing, write a
short statement describing what you have illustrated and how it
represents what you were visualizing.
Assessment: I will assess the students using the
illustrations and statements they constructed from what they read.
Also, I will use the comprehension checklist.
References:
Anonymous.
Toot! Toot! New York, NY. Random House, Inc. 1983
Nims, Courtney. What Do You See?
http://www.auburn.edu/academic/education/reading_genie/voyages/nimsrl.html
Sachar, Louis.
There's a Boy in the Girl's Bathroom.
New York, NY. Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. 1987.
Smith, Leah B. Picture It!
http://www.auburn.edu/academic/education/reading_genie/encounters/smithrl.html