Rationale: The main thing that
students need to learn is reading comprehension so they are able to
understand what they are reading. When students begin to read
chapter books there are less pictures, and they have to rely solely on
the words to picture and comprehend what is going on in the
story. If students are taught techniques and strategies in
visualization, they will be able to picture the story as they read
it. This makes comprehension better and helps make reading more
fun!
Materials:
A Race for the Cake
(Book from Reading Genie Website for everyone) http://www.auburn.edu/academic/education/reading_genie/bookindex.html
Copy of "My Dog" by Kristin Y.
colored pencils
drawing paper
pencils
Because of Winn Dixie
by Kate Dicamillo
Comprehension Questions:
1. What are some things that happened in the chapter that you just read?
2. Describe to me some of the characters that you have seen so far.
3. What do you think will happen in the next chapter?
Assessment: Criteria (Answer Yes/No to each question)
Student includes at least one of the characters from the chapter in
his/her illustration.
Student's illustration accurately reflects a passage from the
chapter.
Student pays attention to detail.
Procedure:
1. "Today we are going to learn a trick to help us remember the things
that we read. Let's review silent reading before we learn this
new trick. Let's all look at the first sentence together of our
book last week, A Race for the Cake together.. Now, everyone read
it out loud together. Man! That is loud! Sometimes that gets a
little distracting and it is much slower than reading silently.
Now, let's all read together but in a whisper. Great job! That
was much less distracting! Now let's get even smaller than a whisper
and just move our lips as we read the sentence. Ok, now let's
make no noise and not move our lips but still move our eyes and read
through the sentences. Great job! We are still reading, but we
are just not making any noise with our mouths. You are reading
silently to yourself. Now, that we have got that down, we have a
new trick we are going to learn today!"
2. "Who loves to read books with lots of pictures? I do too! As
we are getting older, those books are too easy for us and we are
reading chapter books without any pictures. Guess what? You
can still create your own pictures in your mind and that is even more
fun than looking at someone else's pictures! We are going to learn how
to visualize while we are reading. Visualize means to picture
something in your head. When we read, it is a good thing to
create a picture in our heads so we can understand what is
happening. It's kind of like when you take pictures and you can
remember what everything looks like. When we take pictures in our
mind we can remember the story better. Let's practice together as
we read. Try to take pictures of what I am reading to you!"
3. "We are going to read this poem together. Raise your
hand if you have a dog! We are going to read this poem about a dog and
see if you can get a picture in your head of this dog."
My Dog by Kristin Y. (aged 11)
"My dog ran into a wall,
We think
Her face is flat. She's kinda fat
And no one can see her nose
Her name is Chloe
She's the runt
But the cutest of all
Cause she's My dog...
The one that ran into a wall."
"Ok everyone tell me what you picture this dog to look like! Great
visualizations! Every one of you has a picture in your head of
this dog."
4. "Now I want you to picture your dog, and if you don't have a dog
picture your friend's dog or a dog that you have seen before. I
have given you some paper, and I want you to draw the picture that you
get in your mind when you think of your dog. Show me the picture
that you see in your mind!"
5. Let students pair off and show each other their pictures. Tell
each other what visualizations that they made. Let some students
share their pictures of their dogs.
6. Give each student a copy of Because of Winn Dixie. Introduce
the book. "Today we are going to start this new book Because of
Winn Dixie. This book is about a little girl named Opal who has
to move to a brand new town with her dad who is a preacher. One
day she goes to the local Winn Dixie and finds a large homeless dog
that she immediately becomes friends with. She names him Winn
Dixie. What do you think will happen to Opal and her new dog Winn
Dixie? Will he help her make new friends in this new town? Let's
find out!"
7. Give each student more drawing paper. "I am going to give you
some time to read the first chapter of Because of Winn Dixie. Be
sure to take some pictures in your brain as you read. After you
are finished, draw one of the pictures that you got in your mind as you
read. Make sure you write down where you got your picture
from!" Give students time to read and draw what they saw.
Assessment
8. Have each student share what they drew. Use the "Visual
Assessment Checklist" to see how well the students understood the
concept of visualization. Answer yes or no to each question listed:
Student includes at least one of the characters from the chapter in
his/her illustration.
Student's illustration accurately reflects a passage from the
chapter.
Student pays attention to detail.
Comprehension Questions:
1. What are some things that happened in the chapter that you just read?
2. Describe to me some of the characters that you have seen so far.
3. What do you think will happen in the next chapter?
References:
Because of Winn Dixie
by Kate Dicamillo
The Poetry Zone: "My Dog" by Kristin Y. http://www.poetryzone.ndirect.co.uk/animals2.htm
Long, Lauren. "Turn on The Television in Your Brain!" http://www.auburn.edu/academic/education/reading_genie/voyages/longrl.html
Nims, Courtney. "What Do You See?" http://www.auburn.edu/academic/education/reading_genie/voyages/nimsrl.html
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