Visualizing for Comprehension

For a student to be considered a good reader they must go beyond decoding words.  Without comprehension, students who are fluent decoders are just “barking at the print.”  It is when students are able to understand what they have read that they can be considered good readers.  One strategy of a good reader is visualizing.  Good readers do this without even realizing they do it.  The question then, is how do you teach this skill?  

Here are some pictures from my visualizing unit that will help YOU visualize ways to teach this tricky comprehension skill! 

Students fill in the center of the Bubble Map based on the adjective phrases in the outside bubbles.  

I used the book Snowmen All Year to help students visualize how the setting changes in a text.  In the frame I placed lines directly from the text and then drew a matching picture of the setting being described.  It is important to teach students that the text actually does describe what is happening.  Often, the students rely only on pictures and fail to make the comprehension connection with the  text. 

Here's a closer look~

"and at my birthday party we would celebrate his too" 

Another Thinking Map you  could use to apply the same skill~

This Bridge Map shows easily how the text taken directly from the book matches the picture below it.  

My new unit is full of lessons to not only teach visualizing in your classroom but it contains enough to continue to practice and re-visit these skills. 

You can check it out HERE 

This is the book I used to teach visualizing the setting.