Improving Comprehension Through Visualization

1. Improving Comprehension Through Visualization Trishe Belloma REED 663 Fall 2010

2. Visualization • Individuals engage in reading in order to construct meaning from the text. To accomplish this goal, they must utilize a variety of reading strategies. One such strategy is visualization, which Harvey and Goudvis (2007) describe as, “taking the words of the text and mixing them with the reader’s background knowledge to create pictures in the mind” (p. 135).

3. Participants and Strategy • Four students from Seven Oaks Elementary School in Odenton, MD • Neveah, Kymani, Michael, and Alexandra are in Ms. Peterson’s 2nd grade classroom • I met with the students four times for 20-30 minutes each time • Lessons alternated between reading stories and drawing pictures.

4. Instructional Procedure:Day 1 • The first time that I met with the students, we took time to discuss the term “visualization.” • I wanted to gauge the students’ understanding of the strategy and where I would need to go with future lessons. • While visualization is often associated with drawing the pictures we see in our minds, I wanted to start by having the students look at pictures and create a corresponding story.

5. Day 1 • I used the book Biscuit Goes to School by Alyssa Satin Capucilli to start this lesson. • The students took turns coming up with a sentence or two that they felt described the illustrations in the story. • After we discussed each of the illustrations, we read the story along with looking at the illustrations. • Students were asked to compare what the story said to what their peers stated about the illustrations. • At times, the student descriptions did not match the story and we had to discuss the reasons for this. Kymani said, “Sometimes we see the same picture and think of different things. Maybe that happened when we looked at these pictures.” He could not have said it any better.

6. Day 1 • To end the lesson, I explained that we would focus on the words in the next two books we read. • We also talked about the importance of details in stories in order to create a matching illustration. I encouraged the students to remember this as we continued with our lessons.

7. Day 2: The Crayon Box that Talked by Shane DeRolf • “What is visualization or visualizing?” • “In your head, you make your own pictures.” Alexandra • “You use words from the story to make a picture in your head that matches the words.” Michael • “When can you use visualization?” • “Whenever you read.” Kymani • “If you are reading a book that doesn’t have any pictures.” Neveah

8. Day 2 • I explained that today we would be using only the words from stories to create illustrations. • I began by reading the short story “New Clothes” from Comprehensive Reading Inventory. • After I finished reading the story, I showed the students four illustrations that I had drawn to match several sentences from the story.

9. Day 2 • Next I read The Crayon Box that Talked by Shane DeRolf, without showing the illustrations. • At various points in the story, I stopped reading and encouraged the students to picture what I had just read. • The lesson ended with the students drawing their rendition of three scenes from the story. I also asked them to explain each of their pictures and how they fit the given sentence. • The three sentences were: • “I overheard a crayon box, with many things to say.” • “They watched as Green became the grass and Blue became the sky. The Yellow was shining bright on white clouds drifting by.” • “We are a box of crayon, each one of us unique. But when we get together…the picture is complete.”

10. Kymani’s Illustrations and Explanations This is a crayon box and I added faces to show they are talking. I just followed the directions in the sentences to make the picture. I used different coloring to make one picture. (Note: This is supposed to say “Coloring.”)

11. Alexandra’s Illustrations and Explanations The crayons have mouths and they are open because they are talking. The crayon is on the side watching as the girl drew this picture. I followed the directions to use the right colors. These crayons got together at the end, just like in the story.

12. Neveah’s Illustrations and Explanations The crayon box has a mouth and is talking. (Note: She included one of the lines from the story, but not one that occurred at this time.) I just followed the directions in the sentence. There are two different colors because they are unique, but they are getting along.

13. Michael’s Illustrations and Explanations The crayons are talking. Each one is saying something. I followed the directions to draw this picture. The crayons are coming together to write something. Each letter is a different color to show how the crayons are unique.

14. Day 3: Big Words for Little People by Jamie Lee Curtis • For this book, I wanted to see how well the students could match illustrations if they were only given one word from a sentence. • Some of these words were above a second grade level, but I thought it was important for the students to make a guess. • I started by showing the students my illustrations for “family,” “respect,” and “love.” • Each student then received a paper containing four words that are in the story. All of the students received a different set of words. • They were asked to draw a picture that described their definition of the word.

15. Kymani’s Illustrations and Explanations Patience-This boy is waiting nicely in line. Disgusting-This person is throwing up, which is nasty. Understand-These are ears so I can listen to directions and do the worksheet right Considerate-This person is saying “ouchie.” Overall, Kymani was able to illustrate the definitions, except for ‘considerate’ which he admitted he was unsure of.

16. Alexandra’s Illustrations and Explanations Persevere-I thought it sounded like going higher. Responsible-I made my bed before I went to school. Intelligence-These are good grades because the person is smart. Different-There is a sad and happy face which are not the same. The only word that Alexandra had trouble with was “persevere” and we were able to address it the next day.

17. Neveah’s Illustrations and Explanations Impossible-There is no way that this person can get from one side to other without falling in the mud. Privacy-This girl is using the bathroom and is asking that nobody comes in. Stupendous-One dog is telling the other that he did a great job in the play. Celebrate-Balloons and bubbles that are at a party for someone who did something great. Neveah seemed to know all of the words and was able to draw pictures that fit the definitions.

18. Michael’s Illustrations and Explanations Superb-This is a party from someone that did a great job in school. Consequence-The boy broke a glass and the girl is going to tell an adult and the boy will get a punishment. Appropriate-Saying thank you after getting a present. Cooperate-The two boys are working together to clap a song. In general, Michael was able to describe the meaning of each word a draw a corresponding picture.

19. Day 4: Reading Books and Comparing Illustrations • For the final lesson, I read the two stories to the students. • For the Crayon Box that Talked, we looked at the illustrations in the book and compared the to the ones that the students drew. Overall the illustrations matched. If they did not, the students could explain how their illustrations could fit in the book.

20. Day 4 • As I read through Big Words for Little People, I had the students raise their hand when they heard one of their words. The students would then share their illustration and explain how it matched the meaning of the word. • Next we would see if the description the student provided fit into the story. Most of the words and explanations matched what was in the story, but there were several that students had difficulty with. When this happened, I would ask the other students to help their peer. • Eventually, we were able to discuss all of the definitions and how the pictures did or did not fit.

21. Day 4 • Finally, I asked the students to think about which activity was easier: illustrating sentences or illustrating one word. • Kymani and Michael said that illustrating one word was easier because they did not have as much to draw. • Alexandra and Neveah said that sentences were easier to illustrate because you could get clues from the other words in the sentence. • I also asked which activity allowed the students to add more details and all four agreed that it was illustrating sentences. They said that it was because the sentences provided more information and explained what the picture should have.

22. Visualization • Before I left I asked the students one last time to explain visualization or visualizing. • The four students came up with: • “Visualizing is when you imagine pictures in your head using information from words, sentences, and stories. It helps you understand what is happening in the story.”

23. Colleague Reactions • I emailed my presentation to Ms. Heather Peterson who is the teacher of Kymani, Alexandra, Neveah, and Michael. • I asked to review the presentation and offer any comments she had about the presentation as well as the lessons that she taught me teach. • All of her comments made me feel as though I succeeded in helping the students practice using visualization. • Below is a screen shot of her emailed comments.

25. Conclusions • After working with the students, my belief in the importance of visualization was confirmed. When the students had difficulty explaining the meaning of a words verbally, they were able to draw a picture to convey their thoughts. • The use of teacher modeling is key when teaching comprehension strategies. This was my modification of Release of Responsibility. • Visualization, as with all comprehension strategies, needs to be taught using more than just one text and with differences in lessons. This is why I chose to have the students illustrate sentences and words, • Neveah helped me realize that pictures and illustrations often help students remember key ideas and definitions. She said that she keeps a picture dictionary to help her remember what words mean. • In the future, I will be sure to include lessons on visualization in all subjects as it can be very helpful when explaining complex concepts to students. It is also another way for students to be involved in and to express their learning.

26. References • Capucilli, A.S. (2002). Biscuit goes to school. New York, NY: Barnes and Noble Publishing Inc. • Cooter, R.B., Flynt, E.S., & Cooter, K.S. (2007). Comprehensive reading inventory. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall. • Curtis, J.L. (2008). New York, NY: Joanna Cotler Books. • DeRolf, S. (1996). The crayon box that talked. New York, NY: Random House.