Reading to Learn

By: Sophie Taylor

 

 

 

Rationale:

Once children have learned to read accurately and fluently they transition from "learning to read" to "reading to learn." In order for students to be most successful at extracting messages from a text, they need to be taught comprehension strategies explicitly. One of the most effective reading comprehension strategies is visualization. Visualization is the ability to imagine, picture, or visualize what you are reading in a text. Visualization can also be described as constructing mental movies or graphic representations of the text. Visualization helps students monitor their reading and enables them to better comprehend and retain the text they are reading, as it is normally easier to remember images rather than text words. This lesson will help students learn to visualize what they are reading in their mind through explicit modeling of this strategy, guided independent practice, and partner practice. We will do this by practicing visualization with a variety of different readings and using pictures to explain the events of the story. They will also be given opportunities to practice visualization by reading a passage of an article and visualizing the text within their imagination.

 

Materials:

• Expository Text: Great White Sharks Images

• Select Passages for visualization--

• Passage ONE: They have slate-gray upper bodies to blend in with the rocky coastal sea floor, but get their name from their universally white underbellies. They are streamlined, torpedo-shaped swimmers with powerful tails that can propel them through the water at speeds of up to 15 miles per hour. They can even leave the water completely, breaching like whales when attacking prey from underneath.

• Passage TWO: Highly adapted predators, their mouths are lined with up to 300 serrated, triangular teeth arranged in several rows, and they have an exceptional sense of smell to detect prey. They even have organs that can sense the tiny electromagnetic fields generated by animals. Their main prey items include sea lions, seals, small toothed whales, and even sea turtles, and carrion.

• Square sheet of white cardstock

• Crayons, markers, colored pencils

• Vocabulary words

• Cards with passage from article on them

 

Procedures:

1.  Say, “Today we are going to talk about a strategy to help us comprehend what we are reading. Who remembers what it means to comprehend? [wait for student’s response] That’s right! It does mean to understand the message of what you are reading. I hope that by the end of this lesson you will all be able to visualize texts very easily. When we visualize something, we use our imaginations to create a picture of what we are reading. Visualization is kind of like making a mental movie of a story we read. We can save those mental pictures and think back to them later so we remember what we read!”

 

1. Say, “Today, we’re going to read an article about Great White Sharks called “The Great White Shark!” Great Whites are the largest predatory fish on earth and can weigh up to 5000 pounds! But first, we’re going to go over a couple vocabulary words so we can better understand our text. [Teacher will go over some vocabulary and provide some examples and non-examples]

Predator is an animal who naturally preys on other animals. A baby is not a predator but a shark is. What other animals are predators? Have you ever seen a predator? Will you help me complete this sentence? A predator is…

 

An Adaption is a change or the process of change by which an organism or species becomes better suited to its environment. Adaptions can change their behavior, structure or psychological thoughts. What adaptions do you know of? What do you think sharks adapt for? Let’s see if you can finish this sentence: Adaptions are used for…

 

Population is a group of individuals the same species occupying a particular geographic area. What do you think the population of sharks is? Can you have a population where you live? Finish this sentence: If there was 1000 fish in one section of the ocean, it is called?

 

1. Say “Okay, now I am going to demonstrate how I might visualize this part of the article. [Teacher reads first passage not showing any images.] “They have slate-gray upper bodies to blend in with the rocky coastal sea floor, but get their name from their universally white underbellies. They are streamlined, torpedo-shaped swimmers with powerful tails that can propel them through the water at speeds of up to 15 miles per hour. They can even leave the water completely, breaching like whales when attacking prey from underneath.”  [Teacher closes eyes for a moment, showing children process of thinking about pictures] I picture a really large grey and white shark swimming really fast with its teeth sharp and showing. I see that maybe he is looking for food or other fish to eat as he briskly swims through the ocean.

 

1. Say “Now let’s try a passage together! I want you to close your eyes and visualize what I am about to read. Concentrate on the words and listen to the story so you can create a mental image of what I am reading.” Visualize what I read: “Highly adapted predators, their mouths are lined with up to 300 serrated, triangular teeth arranged in several rows, and they have an exceptional sense of smell to detect prey. They even have organs that can sense the tiny electromagnetic fields generated by animals. Their main prey items include sea lions, seals, small toothed whales, and even sea turtles, and carrion.” “Were you able to create a picture in your head of what I was reading? Do you think you could draw a picture of what you visualized? I’m going to reread the passage so you can visualize even better!” [Reread the passage again.] Does anyone wasn’t to describe what their mental image is?

 

1. Say, “Now you know about the Great White Shark, and we know some vocabulary we might need, so I want you to read and continue to visualize the rest of the story! I’m going to continue to read aloud for you, but I’m not going to show you any pictures. I want you to visualize what I’m reading. If you want to close your eyes, you may, but make sure you’re paying attention and listening very carefully! After finish the whole story, you’re going to get a part of the story to visualize and illustrate so really concentrate on visualization. [Read rest of story without showing pictures, continually reminding and encouraging them to visualize].

 

 

1. Say, “So, we have read the whole story – I know you can put your mental pictures on to paper! I’m going to give you a card that has a passage of the story on it. Read the passage to yourself, visualize what is happening, and then illustrate it on your piece of cardstock. Our vocabulary words are on the board if you need them! On the back of your paper, describe what you drew in your own words. Then, we are going to answer some questions about our story. [After students are finished, let them present their picture to the class and explain it. This will be an assessment of students’ comprehension and visualization skills. Description of illustration, the illustration, and the passage should all connect together and make sense. Students will also go to teacher's desk and answer four comprehension questions].

 

Assessment:
The teacher will refer to the students' drawings of. She will use the following rubric to grade students' work. She will grade each drawing according to the rubric which is out of 10 total points:

_____ Did the student draw a picture? (2)
_____Does the picture relates to the passage? (2)
_____ Does the picture accurately depict what the passage was about? (2)
_____ Did the student include a detailed description? (2)
_____ Do the description and illustration show comprehension of the passage? (2)
 

The teacher will also assess the students' understanding of the story based on their completion of the following questions:

 

Comprehension Questions:

What was an adaption Great White Sharks had made?

What do these sharks prey on?

How does the Great White compare to other sharks in the ocean?

What is the population?

 

 

Resources:

Williams, Losing our Mayan-ds about Reading! https://krw00218.wixsite.com/krwlessondesigns/reading-to-learn

Great White Shark Article, https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/fish/g/great-white-shark/

Great White Shark Images, https://www.gettyimages.com/photos/great-white-shark?sort=mostpopular&mediatype=photography&phrase=great%20white%20shark

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