Visualizing
What is visualizing and how does it help comprehension?
In teacher talk: visualizing is the process by which student's create mental images that match the text they are reading. This process strengthens understanding and helps students make connections and inferences will also serve as aids to comprehension.
In student talk: it means making movies in your head while you are reading.
This idea provoked a lively discussion of whether the characters in the Harry Potter movies matched the way we pictured them in our heads while reading the books. As a class, we were split down the middle. Some students agreed that the characters of Harry and Ron were well cast, while others disagreed. Almost everyone agreed that Hermione's character was not at all how we pictured her.
To practice visualizing, I read a Thanksgiving poem aloud. The students were instructed to reread the poem silently and underline the descriptive words that helped them evoke their mental images. Then they drew their images. The results were great and are hanging outside our room for all to see.
In teacher talk: visualizing is the process by which student's create mental images that match the text they are reading. This process strengthens understanding and helps students make connections and inferences will also serve as aids to comprehension.
In student talk: it means making movies in your head while you are reading.
This idea provoked a lively discussion of whether the characters in the Harry Potter movies matched the way we pictured them in our heads while reading the books. As a class, we were split down the middle. Some students agreed that the characters of Harry and Ron were well cast, while others disagreed. Almost everyone agreed that Hermione's character was not at all how we pictured her.
To practice visualizing, I read a Thanksgiving poem aloud. The students were instructed to reread the poem silently and underline the descriptive words that helped them evoke their mental images. Then they drew their images. The results were great and are hanging outside our room for all to see.