Visualizing!

Hello again!  This is Hilary from Second Grade is Out of This World.  

Visualizing or Making Mental Images  is one of my favorite things to teach my kiddos about reading.  I always say that is what makes reading so magical!  You get to make the pictures yourself.  I started this year with this picture that I found on Pinterest:  

We had a great discussion of what this poster meant.  I also have a picture of a guy reading a book at the top.  It says "What I look like I am doing..." and then at the bottom is a picture of a muscular fellow wrestling with a shark and it says "What I am REALLY doing".  I couldn't find the link to that one (sorry to many pins!)  The kiddos got really interested in our discussion, and started talking about their experiences with really getting into a book (we call it getting into the "Reading Zone".)

I usually do this unit at Christmas time because the kiddos can make some wonderful mental images about Christmas!

After Christmas we review, then work on wrapping it up to move on to a different reading strategy.  I wanted to wrap it up this year with something fun!  So rarely do we have time to do anything crafty any more, so the kiddos were thrilled!  This was so easy to do, I am almost embarrassed to post about it (almost...).  

First,  I read the poem: "My Neighbor's Dog is Purple" by Jack Pretlusky.  The kiddos closed their eyes while I was reading to help them make their "Mind Movie".

Then, I passed out a large "thought bubble" that I made in publisher to each kiddo. The kiddos drew their mental images in their thought bubble while I read the poem again.

Next, they each chose a piece of skin toned construction paper (I provided a lot of different choices, and let them choose).  They used paper plates to trace a circle and cut it out for their faces.  Using the paper plate was optional, a few kiddos decided to make theirs more "face shaped".  I showed them a few ways they could draw their eyes to make them look closed.  Of course many of them had their own ideas, those creative little geniuses!  They used scraps from the scrap box to make their hair (and some an accessory or two).  

Then, they cut out their thought bubble and glued it to the top part of their construction paper face! 

We put them out in the hallway with the poem!  It has been a hit!

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