The Adventures
of
Visualization
Reading
Comprehension Lesson Design: Visualization
Rationale:
Comprehension
is a very important goal of reading. Visualization is a means of
learning
comprehension. Students need to learn to visualize the text as they
read. By
doing so, they will paint a picture in their head of what is going on
in the
text. This is important because it will help students to remember the
story and
comprehend the book. This lesson will help students listen to and read
stories
while visualizing the text, thus comprehending the story.
Materials:
Procedure:
1.
Good
Morning fellow astronauts. Today our mission is to Mars. Be
sure to buckle your seat belt and enjoy the voyage. There will be many
things
to observe on this trip so be sure you pay close attention to what is
around
you. Ready --- here we go. If you notice to your right, we’ve only been
gone a
few seconds but it seems like earth is so far away already doesn’t it.
On your
left you will see the great ball of fire; we know it as the sun.
Alright, we’re
getting close, be sure you’re still buckled cause its gonna be a rocky
landing.
Here we are. You can unbuckle now and exit the shuttle to your right.
Look at
the landscape. Notice how very different it is from Opelika. Think
about the
things that make it different. Look over there…..those rocks are
amazing. Let’s
go closer. You can pick one up and look at it. Observe its shape size
and color.
You can even break it, if you can and look at the inside. Ok now its
time to go
but you must leave your rock here. Back to the shuttle. Buckle up. Here
we go.
The ride back might be a little bumpy so be prepared. We’ll soon be
landing.
There’s earth, notice how it gets larger as we get closer. Alright,
here we
are, back on earth. You may unbuckle and exit the shuttle. Have a nice
day! (Ok, you can open
your eyes now.)
2.
I am
going to call on a few of
you and I want you to tell me what you saw in your head (call
on 2 or 3 students). Sounds like you all saw different things. That’s
pretty
interesting! Does anybody know what we call it when we picture things
in our
head? (Students might say imagine, brainstorm, picture, dream, see, or
other things. Be sure that you let them know those answers are all
correct but
that visualization is a word that means the same thing).
3.
Visualization
is a very
important thing that we do in our brains. When we hear things, we have
this
great ability to see things in my head. When I say “there is a bowl of
fruit on
the table”, in your head, you might visualize a wooden bowl with
bananas,
apples, oranges, grapes, and pears. Or you might visualize a ceramic
bowl with
only bananas in it. Visualizing is fun, because we get to use our
imagination.
When I visualize a fruit bowl, it doesn’t look the same as the fruit
bowl you
visualize.
4.
Even
though many times we all
visualize things different, visualizing can help us to see the same
thing.
Listen to this description of a fruit bowl: On the table there is
sitting a
red, oval, ceramic bowl. In the bowl there are bananas that are not yet
ripe,
some red grapes, and granny smith apples. Now, I bet everyone’s
visualizations
are a little more the same.
5.
Visualizations
also help us to
find things and figure things out. If I asked Jim to go to my desk and
get the
red binder with a yellow post-it on top, he would visualize that in his
head.
When he gets to my desk, he would look for what it was he had
visualized.
6.
Well,
we’ve talked about how
important visualization is and how much fun it can be. Do you know that
visualization can help us to be better readers? How do you think that
visualization might help us to read stories better? (Allow
a few students to give answers). That’s right, when we read a sentence,
if
it has a description then we can visualize it in our heads. When might
visualizing be very important in a story? That’s right, when we are
learning
about the characters and setting. When I read the sentence “Tom was an
adventuresome little boy, ragged around the edges,” I visualize a short
little
boy with dirty blond hair that hasn’t been washed in a while, wearing
overalls
that are ripped and rolled up on one leg. Now I bet that your
visualizations were
a little different.
7.
Today,
we are going to start
reading The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and this is a great book
to
practice our visualization. Pay close attention to all the details in
the story
because they are great and will help you visualize the story. You will
laugh;
I’m sure, because of some of the things you visualize. After we finish
the
book, we will watch the movie and see how our visualizations compare to
how the
movie company visualized the movie.
8.
I want
you to read the first
chapter in Tom Sawyer and when you are finished, you will draw
a picture
to show me what you visualized as you read this section. You can let me
know
about the characters or the setting or a specific scene, but use as
much detail
as you can. I should be able to look at your picture and tell you what
it look
like and give a description much like what you visualized.
Assessment:
Allow
students enough time to read the story and draw their pictures. They
will turn
in the pictures that were drawn. The pictures should be graded using
the
following guidelines as a checklist:
Did
the student draw a picture?
Does the picture relate to the first chapter?
Does the picture relate to characters or setting?
Is the picture interpretable?
Does the picture display detail?
Does the picture portray comprehension of the first chapter?
Reference:
Twain,
Mark. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. Baronet Books: New York, New York.
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