I see what I read I feel what I read

It's like a movie in my mind

I create pictures in my mind as I read.

Visualizing

Sensory Images

“When sensory images form in a child’s mind as he reads, it is an ongoing creative act.

Pictures, smells, tastes, and feelings burst forth and his mind organizes them to help the story make sense.

It is this ongoing creation of sensory images that keeps children hooked on reading.” (Zimmerman, Hutchins)

Bring Text Alive

“Sensory images are the cinema unfolding in your mind that make reading three-dimensional.”

(Zimmerman , Hutchins)

The Research…

• Proficient readers spontaneously and purposefully create mental images while and after they read. The images emerge from all five senses, as well as the emotions, and are anchored in a reader's prior knowledge. ... Proficient readers use images to draw conclusions, to create distinct and unique interpretations of the text, to recall details significant to the text, and to recall a text after it has been read.

—Ellin Oliver Keene and Susan Zimmerman, from Mosaic of Thought: Teaching Comprehension in a Reader's Workshop, 1997, p. 141

Research Shows That

“Comprehension of textual information increases when students can create detailed mental pictures of what they are reading.” (Muehlher, Sieman)

The mind stores information in two forms: linguistic and imagery.

Research Shows That

“The more students use both systems of representation:

linguistic and nonlinguistic, the better they are to think about and recall what they’ve read.”

(Muehlherr, Sieman)

Creating Vivid Images During Reading. . .

• Correlates highly with overall comprehension.

• Understanding, attending to, and developing a personal awareness of the sensory and emotional images that arise from reading give students the flexibility and capacity to experience text at an added depth. (Keene, Zimmerman)

What About our Dependent Readers?

• If kids fail to create sensory images, they suffer a type of “sensory deprivation.”

• “It’s like walking into a theater and sitting in a seat. But nothing comes up on the screen.”

(Zimmerman, Hutchins)

Proficient Readers. . .

Spontaneously and purposefully create mental images while and after they read.

Allow the images and emotions to emerge from all five senses. These are anchored in a reader’s prior knowledge.

Proficient Readers. . .

Allow themselves to be engaged more deeply, making the text more memorable.

Use images to immerse themselves in rich detail as they read. (The detail gives depth and dimension to the reading.)

Proficient Readers.. .

Use images to draw conclusionsCreate distinct and unique

interpretation of the textRecall details significant to the

textAdapt their images as they

continue to read by incorporating new information and new interpretations

Proficient Readers. . .

Understand and articulate how creating images enhances their comprehension.

Adapt their images in response to the shared images of other readers.

Visualizing with Wordless Picture Books

Purpose: Visualizing to fill in missing information

Resource: Good Dog Carl, by Alexandra DayResponses: Students draw what they visualize happening

between the pages and write about it.

Lesson 1

Illustration

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Visualizing From a Vivid Piece of Text

Purpose: Merging prior experience and the text to create visual images

Resource: Fireflies, by Julie BrinkloeResponses: After reading, students draw visual images. Discuss

how each individual brings their background knowledge to the text.

Illustration

Lesson 2

You Try It!“The barn was very large. It was very old. It smelled of hay… It smelled of the perspiration of tired horses and the wonderful sweet breath of patient cows… It smelled of grain and of harness dressing... It was full of all sorts of things you find in barns: ladders, grindstones, pitch forks... lawn mowers, snow shovels, ax handles, milk pails, water buckets, empty grain sacks, and nasty rat traps...”

-The lead to Chapter 3, “Escape,” in Charlotte’s Web, by E.B. White

Lesson 2

Visualizing in Nonfiction Text: Making Comparisons

Purpose: Visualizing to better understand the dimensions of size,

space, and timeResources: National Geographic Kids article, “Beelzebufo:

A Giant of a Find” or any nonfiction trade books that use illustrations to make comparisons.

Response: Drawing a comparison between one object and another

Lesson 3

A Beelzebufo frog is as big as a beach ball!

Resource: The Librarian of Basra: A true story from IraqResponse: Class discussion; Charting responses

Lesson 4Visualizing in Reading, Showing Not Telling

Purpose: Creating images with compelling nonfiction

What makes the scene come alive?

The sand swept country

The abandoned buildings

Alia worries that the fires of war will destroy the books

Vivid Verbs and Nouns in the Text

The whispers of war grow louder.

The city is lit with a firestorm of bombs and gunfire.

The war rages on.

The beast of war moves on.

Resource: “Tea Overboard in Boston Harbor”Response: I see…, I hear…, I can feel…, I smell…, I can taste…

Lesson 5

Creating Mental Images That Go Beyond Visualizing

Purpose: Using all the senses to comprehend text

Title: Tea Overboard in Boston HarborAuthor:

I see…Americans disguised as Mohawk IndiansChests of tea being cracked open and the tea being thrown overboard

I hear…The hooting and howling of the AmericansThe chests of tea being cracked open and the sound of the tea splashing in the water

I can feel…The tension between the Americans and the BritishThe sense of pride the Americans feel for taking action against England’s control

I smell…The sea and the smell of tea in the air and in the water

I can taste…Salt water on my tongue as it hangs in the damp night air

Inferring

Merging background knowledge with clues in the Text to come up with an idea that is not explicitly stated by

the author. Reasonable inferences need to be tied to the text

Making predictionsUsing context to determine meaning ofunfamiliar words/conceptsInterpreting the meaning of language

figurative, idiomatic, metaphoricVisualizing

Inferring relationshipssetting to plotcause/effectcharacter’s feelings/motives

Inferring author’s purposeCreating interpretations based on text evidenceUsing text evidence to surface themes and big ideasInferring the meaning of text featuresInferring the answer to a questionDrawing conclusions based on text evidence

Inferring involves merging background knowledge with text clues to come up with an idea that is not explicitly stated in the text. Inferring is the

proverbial reading between the lines.(Harvey & Goudvis, 2007)

BK + Text Clues = Inference

Resources: A feelings chart and a card with the word sad written on it. The card is pinned to on the back of one student who doesn’t know what it says.

Response: Child with card on back goes in the middle of the circle, and kids give him or her clues as to how they feel when they are sad to help the child guess the feeling word.

Lesson 6

Sad

… my sister hit me with a golf club

…my dog died

…my mom said we couldn’t go to McDonald’s

…my grandpa died

Inferring Feelings with Kindergarteners

Purpose: Helping kids to better understand their own and other’s feelings: introducing inferential thinking

Resource: Time for Kids Article, Haiti Picks Up the PiecesResponse: A four-column think sheet titled Word/Inferred

Meaning/Clues/ Sentence and a chart with the same titles

Word Inferred Meaning Clues Sentence

magnitude strength/power Power Word Box“The

measurement of an earthquake”

The magnitude 7.0 quake ripped through the

country’s capital.

fleeing leaving Context clue Many residents are living in tent cities that have sprung

up across the capital. Others are fleeing the city for the countryside.

devastated ruined Pictures of crushed homes

A massive earthquake

devastated their island homes.

Lesson 7Inferring Meaning of Unfamiliar Words

Purpose: Using context clues to crack open vocabulary

Inferring Meaning of Unfamiliar Words

Strategies to Decipher Meaning of Unknown Words 

• Look inside-the-word - Prefix, Suffix, Root, Base or Word Chunk 

• Look outside-the-word - Use Context Clues and Text Features 

• Look at other resources - Glossary, Dictionary, Peers, Internet 

Resource: Tight Times, by Barbara Shook HazenResponse: Two-column note form headed Quote or Picture from

Text/Inference

Lesson 8

Quote or Picture from Text Inference

Cover of book showing boy with one lima bean on his fork and many on his plate.

What does Tight Times mean?

The dad tells him that tight times are why the babysitter picks him up after school instead of his mom. His mom has job.

He doesn’t like lima beans.

When you don’t have enough money to do the stuff you want to do.

His mom must have to work because they need the money.

Inferring from the Cover and Illustrations as Well as the Text

Purpose: Using all aspects of a book to infer meaning

Resource: Tight Times, by Barbara Shook HazenResponse: Three-column chart titled Background

Knowledge/Text Clues/Inference

Lesson 9Inferring with Text Clues

Purpose: Teaching the inferring equation BK + TC = I (Background Knowledge + Text Clues = Inference)

Background Knowledge

Text Clues Inference

Moms can get cranky when they are rushing to work in the morning

Babysitters should be watching kids

She says no when he asks for a dog

She is watching TV and the dad looks mad

He has probably asked for a dog over and over

The dad is mad because she is not doing her job

Resource: Baseball Saved Us, by Ken MochizukiResponse: Class discussion; chart of themes; theme boards

Lesson 10

Baseball Saved Us

Evidence in the Text(Words, Actions, Pictures)

Themes

Thousands of Japanese Americans were sent to an internment camp after the attack on Pearl Harbor. The camp was located in the middle of the desert. In order to boost spirits, Shorty’s father decided to build a baseball diamond and form a league.

Illustrations

InjusticePrejudiceTransforming anger into power

Reflect tone and mood of story

Recognizing Plot and Inferring Themes

Purpose: Differentiating between plot and theme, and inferring the big ideas or themes

You Try It!

Goldilocks and the Three Bears

Evidence in the Text(Words, Actions, Pictures)

Themes

Walked into the bears home uninvitedAte their foodBroke their chairsSlept in their beds

SelfishnessThoughtlessnessGreedinessDisrespectfulness

Resource: Textbook or nonfiction trade booksResponse: Two-column note form headed Facts/Inferences:

ongoing discussion about how comprehension strategies help readers understand content reading

Lesson 11

Topic:

Facts(Something we can see and observe)

Inferences(Interpretations)

Apatosaurs are slow.Adults protect young.Took place 70 million years ago.Bacteria decay the banana.

The T-rex will catch them.The Apatosaurs are plant eaters.

Bananas get rotten when you leave them out too long.

Visualizing and Inferring to Understand Information

Purpose: Using reading comprehension strategies to better understand content area reading

Resource: Encounter, by Jane YolenResponse: Discussion and sticky notes for questioning and

inferring

Lesson 12

EncounterBackground knowledge: Christopher Columbus was an explorer who was trying to reach India. He didn’t get to India, but he found a new land. He was looking for gold and riches.

Questions(I wonder…)

Inferences(I think…)

(cover) Is the man on the cover Columbus?Is the boy trying to push the man away?

Is the boy’s dream a nightmare?Are the birds in his dream the ships?Do the Taino think the birds are spirits?

Why do the men from the ships want to claim the land?

I think the little boy is telling the story.

Maybe the dream was telling him the visitors were evil.

Maybe the men want gold…

Inferring and Questioning to Understand

Purpose: Inferring go hand in hand to build understanding

TEACHING WITH THE END IN MIND:

ASSESSING WHAT WE’VE TAUGHT

INFERRING AND VISUALIZINGLook for evidence that:

•Students visualize and create mental images to make sense of what they read. As students listen to and read text, we look for evidence that they draw and write about their mental images or mind pictures to support understanding.

•Students infer the meaning of unfamiliar words. We look for evidence that students are using the context to figure out the meaning of words and concepts the elude them.

•Students use text evidence to infer themes and bigger ideas. We look for evidence that students are merging their background knowledge with clues in the text to themes and bigger ideas.

•Students infer and draw conclusions from informational text using features and text structures. We look for evidence that students enhance their understanding and think beyond just the facts as they read textbooks and other nonfiction text.