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Visualizing A Reading Comprehension Strategy Unit Picstank

Leo Migdal
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visualizing a reading comprehension strategy unit picstank

This post is the first in a series about reading comprehension strategies. Today’s reading comprehension strategy is using visualization as we read. Or in other words, making a movie of the book in our mind as it unfolds. Some children may do this naturally as they read and some may need some or a lot of help developing this skill. Regardless, almost all children will improve their reading comprehension skills from their current level if you use some of the strategies below. <img fetchpriority="high" decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-44662" src="https://peanutbutterfishlessons.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Slide2-2-200x300.jpg" alt="Pinnable cover image for article titled Reading Comprehension Strategy #1: Visualization showing a girl reading next to a lion." width="350" height="525" srcset="https://peanutbutterfishlessons.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Slide2-2-200x300.jpg 200w, https://peanutbutterfishlessons.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Slide2-2-683x1024.jpg 683w, https://peanutbutterfishlessons.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Slide2-2-600x900.jpg 600w, https://peanutbutterfishlessons.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Slide2-2.jpg...

(Note: This post contains affiliate links for your convenience. Click here to read our full disclosure.) When we talk about visualizing what we read, we are not just talking about what you “see“. We are also talking about the other sensations a story can make you feel. You may “smell” the food cooking in story or even “taste” it. You may “hear” the crunching of the leaves as one of the characters walks in the woods.

You may even “feel” sensations in your body such as chills or your stomach clenching. Visualizing text is a proven way to improve reading comprehension. It is a technique that can be taught using this simple, step-by-step strategy from literacy consultant Cathy Puett Miller. Included: Tips and resources for developing students' comprehension skills. Each day, our students are bombarded with the visual images of TV and video games. In contrast, most students view reading as a passive activity.

But a simple technique -- visualization -- can transform students of all ages from passive to active readers; visualization can help students cross the boundary to improved comprehension. Your students will be able to grasp the visualization technique by following a simple, step-by-step plan: Direct modeling of the active thought processes involved in visualizing text is the first step. Begin with a familiar fiction read-aloud. As you read a short passage, describe images you see in your mind. For example, you might use the following quote from Where the Wild Things Are:

After reading that quote, share with students the images you visualized as you read it. Teaching our students to visualize while they read is an important reading comprehension skill. In the past, I’ve found that my students love learning to make mental images. They enjoy learning to “create a movie” in their mind. Below, I detail how to teach the reading comprehension strategy visualization in a fun, engaging way for your first and second grade students. Click here to see it on Teachers Pay Teachers.

With our brand new visualizing reading unit, you can plan all of your lesson plans! This is helpful if you don’t have a solid reading curriculum in your school district. There are 5 comprehensive lesson plans for you to effectively teach students to visualize as they read. You can assess your students before teaching your visualizing reading unit before you even teach it! You might be wondering why, but I find assessing students before teaching any topic helpful because then I can see what students know from the previous schooling. If your whole class has a solid foundation in creating mental images while they read, then you will be able to plan your instruction accordingly.

No need to teach something they already know! Then, you can give the same assessment when you are finished teaching as a post-test. Pre- and post-assessments are a great sample to keep for parent/teacher conferences to show the growth of your students to their caretakers. They are also great for data teams if you are measuring growth in that area. The reading passages included in this unit aren’t exactly passages, but instead poems. I intentionally wrote the poems with sensory words so that students could truly create a mental image of the poem.

Love podcasts? Check out this post in the form of a podcast episode on The Classroom Commute Podcast: As adults, it’s hard to imagine NOT visualizing while we read, since it comes so naturally to a seasoned reader. But, for kids, they may not have been taught to focus their mind in that way. That’s where clear reading comprehension strategy instruction on visualizing, or picturing as some teacher refer to it as, comes into the…well, picture (pun intended)! When we teach reading comprehension strategies specifically, including visualizing, we give our students a framework and a blueprint for how to THINK about what they are reading.

This framework leads to a deeper understanding of a text and helps students to interact with what they are reading. When students using reading strategies like visualizing (as we will discuss in great lengths in this post), they become active participants in their learning. Pssst…Want a super engaging and interactive way to have students practice visualizing?

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(Note: This post contains affiliate links for your convenience. Click here to read our full disclosure.) When we talk about visualizing what we read, we are not just talking about what you “see“. We are also talking about the other sensations a story can make you feel. You may “smell” the food cooking in story or even “taste” it. You may “hear” the crunching of the leaves as one of the characters ...

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