Creating and Describing Mental Pictures
“If I can’t picture it, I can’t understand it” Einstein
Creating good mental pictures is
something that we can all learn to do, but it is important to understand that
we all visualize things differently.
Teaching
students to visualize what they are reading.
Choosing Appropriate Text: The Teacher selects or creates a single
sentence including elements that are easily imaginable and visually
oriented. For example:
The dog chased the cat up the tree.
Reinforcing The Imaging Concept: The teacher repeats the process with a few more individual sentences. The sentences contain strong visual references so that students connect the ideas to clear visual images. If appropriate, the complexity of the sentence may be increased to encourage more intricate imaging. For example:
The dog chased the
cat up the tree.
John’s big
black dog chased Lucy’s calico kitten up the huge oak tree.
Expanding The Text: The concept of using individual sentences may now be expanded into larger pieces of text, like short paragraphs. The teacher takes care to be certain that students are creating appropriate images based on the text prior to engaging in the use of more expanded reading material. The development of imaging skills is a gradual process that must not be rushed or shortcut. Some students will acquire the skill rather rapidly, while others may need significantly more reinforcement and follow-up activities.
Ø
Basic Sentence
o Example
shown above using the dog.
o Activity,
Arrange pieces on a flannel/magnetic board or draw a picture.
Ø
Short Paragraph
o One
sunny day, John took his dog for a walk.
Lucy brought her new calico kitten over to show to John. John’s big black dog chased Lucy’s calico
kitten up the huge oak tree.
o Activity,
Create a picture for each sentence and display them in the proper sequence on
the wall. Retell the story from the
pictures.
Intermediate 4th-8th
Ø
Basic Sentence
o Abraham
Lincoln was a tall, skinny man.
o Draw
a picture. Think of a present-day person
who reminds you of Abraham Lincoln.
Ø
Expanded Sentence
o Abraham
Lincoln was a tall, skinny, bearded man who wore a stovepipe hat.
o Add
details to picture. Make a stovepipe hat
and a beard.
Ø
Short Paragraph
o Abraham
Lincoln was a tall, skinny, bearded man who wore a stovepipe hat. He stood in front of the large podium and
delivered his famous speech, the Gettysburg Address. As he spoke, he gestured broadly with his
huge hands.
o Activity,
Create a storyboard, a series of pictures showing the sequence of
scenario. Reenact the scene described in
the paragraph as described in the storyboard.
Images of Abraham Lincoln can be found at the following
website:
http://images.google.com/images?q=%22abraham+lincoln%22&ie=ISO-8859-1&hl=en
http://www.historyplace.com/lincoln/
Images of dogs and cats can be found at the following website:
http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&lr=&ie=ISO-88591&q=%22dogs+and+cats%22
Use these in you classroom to teach visual images. It is impossible for a student to visualize something until he or she has actually seen it for himself or herself. For example, before you personally saw a picture of Abraham Lincoln you probably couldn’t visualize what he looked like. http://www.google.com/imghp?hl=en&tab=wi&ie=UTF-8 is a good place to find pictures you might be discussing. Just go to this website and place the word or words for what you are looking for in the box provided and you will most likely find what it is you are looking for. If you were looking for pictures involving the civil war you might place the words “Civil War” in the box, be sure to include the quotation marks around words you want to appear together in a picture. If you don’t you will get pictures that have to do with anything civil and any war as apposed to the “Civil War”.
Recreated by Chad Johnson for EDRG-4020, Reading Comprehension.