Daydream with a Purpose

From the desk of Leigh Ann . . .

“Visualization is daydreaming with a purpose.” – Bo Bennett

I am the poster child of a visual learner.  I remember faces – not names.  I write things down to help me process and remember.  I talk with my hands to illustrate a point. (My husband says if I sat on my hands I wouldn’t be able to speak.)  Most of all, I paint vivid pictures in my mind about what is being said or read.  This is what makes language meaningful to me.  I have been reading Nanci Bell’s Visualizing and Verbalizing and her words rang true to me – “I am passionate about the importance of imagery to comprehension and cognition.”  As one of her students said, “I make movies when I read.”  This is what makes reading meaningful to me.

As we work in our classrooms to make reading meaningful to our students, visualization is one tool that can build understanding.  The way we learn is as unique as each learner, so we need to offer a variety of techniques to foster the development of reading comprehension.  Visualization is a technique that refers to the way we create pictures in our heads based on the words we hear and the texts we read.  Research has shown that students who visualize have “a richer reading experience” and are able to remember what was read for longer periods of time.  By purposefully practicing the skill of using words to create mental images, we can strengthen reading comprehension skills.  Visualizing can help create a personal link between a reader and a text.  For example – a reader who paints a visual image of a character becomes more involved with the text and formulates real life connections that build understanding.  This makes reading more meaningful and makes the reader want to keep reading.

Imagery is a very important part of comprehension, but is often overlooked during direct reading instruction.  We often assume that students automatically make an image connection, but we shouldn’t take that for granted.  We need to purposefully model how to create mental images and demonstrate how this process can create deeper understanding of a text.

How do you get started developing the connection between language and visual imagery to build meaning?

• Start small and model.  Take a word – dog.  What do you picture in your mind when I say the word dog?  Have children describe what they visualize.  Encourage them to use as much detail as possible.  Then describe your mental image.  Compare and contrast what you each imagined.
• Move to visualizing a sentence.  The shaggy dog ran through the door leaving muddy footprints all over mom’s brand new rug!   Make a movie with your mind. What do you see?  Make predictions.  What do you think will happen next?
• Move to visualizing a paragraph or short passage.  Use the same type of questioning to extend thinking.  Model in great detail what you visualize.
• Read orally to the class and practice making mental images of the characters, settings, and events together.
• Practice independently.  After silent reading, students can record their mental images in a reading response journal or discuss them during reading conferences.

There is so much more to reading than recognizing verbal and linguistic codes.  Using mental imagery allows you to create a movie in your mind’s eye and visualize what a text is striving to tell.  When working to make reading more meaningful for our students, we should take nothing for granted.  Even proficient readers can benefit from practicing visualization techniques while reading.  Maybe it is not just a picture that paints a thousand words, but the words that create pictures in our minds that build understanding.  The two make a great pair when it comes to making reading more meaningful.

“There is nothing more important than learning to think – except learning to teach someone to think.”  – Nanci Bell