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Good readers construct mental images as they read a text. By using prior knowledge and background experiences, readers connect the author's writing with a personal picture. Through guided visualization, students learn how to create mental pictures as they read.
Resources
Into the Book: lesson plans that help students learn to visualize See lesson plans > Picture This! Using Mental Imagery While Reading
Read article > Reading for Meaning: Tutoring Elementary Students to Enhance Comprehension Read article >
Examples:
Math
Teaching Shapes Using Read-Alouds, Visualization, and Sketch to Stretch from ReadWriteThink encourages strategic reading and real-world math connections. See example > Draw a Math Story from ReadWriteThink helps students move from the concrete to the symbolic. See example >
Art
From the Art Junction website: Suppose you had a hat that would help you think like an artist(76K PDF)*. What would it look like? How would it work? Try to imagine such a hat in your mind's eye. Once you have a mental picture of your "artrageous" hat, make it using a paper plate as a base and colored construction paper to create it's form. It may help to draw a picture of your hat before you start. See example >
Music
The San Francisco Symphony Kids' Site offers an online radio that provides musical examples of drama, excitement, tragedy and triumph. The musical selections offer a great opportunity to pair visualization and writing. Simply select a station button, have kids listen and visualize, and then draw or write what they "see" in the music. See example >
Differentiated instruction
For second language learners, students of varying reading skill, students with learning disabilities, and younger learners
Start with small bits of text. Gradually add more as students get more familiar with the strategy. Pair students, or organize them into small groups, for visualization work. Use a strategy like Think-Pair-Share to help students become more comfortable developing mental images.
Gambrell, L., & Koskinen, P.S. (2002). Imagery: A strategy for enhancing comprehension. In C. C. Block & M. Pressley (Eds.), Comprehension instruction: Research-based best practices (pp. 305-318). New York: Guilford Press. National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. (2000). Report of the National Reading Panel. Teaching children to read: An evidence-based assessment of the scientific research literature on reading and its implications for reading instruction (NIH Publication No. 00-4769). Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office. Mental Imagery in Reading: A Sampler of Some Significant Studies