Visualising
“Effective readers create mental images as they read” (Winch, et al., 2014, p. 95).
Visualisation of texts allow students to present the information in the text again. This method has been proven successful to improve comprehension and overall learning (Duke & Pearson, 2002).
To begin teaching visualisation it is good to start with a small task. For example, ask students to think about what they had for dinner last night and try to imagine their plate in their mind and what the meal looked like. Ask students to share starting with the sentence “In my mind I see…”
Visualising lessons and activities
Introduction: This lesson would be completed after the children had experienced some instruction on visualisation techniques. The teacher begins by re-introducing the strategy using a simple idea like the one above. Then the teacher explains that she will read aloud a chapter of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and ask the students to try to create a picture in their minds of what they are hearing.
Main Lesson: Teacher reads chapter 15: The chocolate room to the class. This should be read slowly and emphasise descriptive words which may help children visualise. After the teacher has finished reading, the students will be asked to try to draw what they could see in their minds. Before they begin reading, the teacher could ask the students to share some of their ideas about what they could see. The teacher should make it clear that all students will visualise things in different ways and all representations are correct because visualising is a personal experience based on each person's prior experiences. Whilst the students are drawing, the teacher should re-read the chapter as many times as students feel they need.
Summary: After the children have created their drawing, invite them to show their representation to the class. Ask the class to explain what they can see in the student's work and share several of the pictures.
Close: The lesson should be closed by going back to talking about the strategy that was used to further reinforce its usefulness as a comprehension strategy, especially in students' independent reading.
Book: The Gruffalo by Julia Donaldson
Create a page to display on the IWB which shows the descriptive aspects of the gruffalo, without any images. (eg. Terrible teeth, purple prickles all over his back etc).
Ask the students to use this information to try and create a picture in their mind of what this creature would look like. If the children are familiar with The Gruffalo, then the teacher could create a list of physical attributes of a creature randomly. Students can sketch their ideas of what they think the creature would look like. After the students have sketched their creatures, they could use an iPad to create a digital animation or character. Applications such as Toontastic, 3D IT animal creator or Animation Creator would be a great starting point for this activity. This activity would likely be something which would run over more than one session.
Adaptations to this lesson:
The teacher could give similar descriptions about a place or a setting. By providing some clues as to what a place looks like, the teacher could then ask students to sketch the place as they are visualising it in their mind. After they have sketched the place, the children could be asked to make a 3D model of the place. This would allow children to demonstrate their vision of the place or setting through art. Furthermore, this type of lesson could then be extended into children writing about what might take place in their setting and creating characters for their story.
Other recommended teaching strategies, as discussed by Winch et al. (2014):
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Drawing characters based on written descriptions
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Constructing 3D models of book settings
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Creating digital animation sequences based on a written text
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Completing diagrams such as timelines using information in a factual text
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Creating story maps from the events in a narrative
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Engaging in a dramatic presentation of the whole or part of the text
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Turning a text such as a poem or story into a picturebook
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Turning a literary text into a multimodal text
(p. 95).
