Today our comprehension skill in reading was "Creating a Mental Image." We discussed how important it is to be tying your schema (your thinking, or the information already in your brain) to details in the text before, throughout, and after reading to create mental images or a mental movie. The advantage of this strategy, is that it allows you have pictures in your head that you can later recall to help remember the story you've been reading. It also encourages kids to consider their senses and visualize what they'd actually experience in terms of sight, smell, hear, touch, etc. You'll see those senses illustrated in the pictures below! Today as I read chapters 3-4 from Charlotte's Web I asked the students to draw what they pictured in their head, and then we shared together at the end. It was amazing how everyone's picture was a little different, and we had a great discussion on how we may all see or capture different details from the text based on our schema. For example, some kids saw the barn with fading red paint since the barns they are familiar with are weathered, and not everyone caught that there was a pitchfork in the barn. The pitchfork isn't a major detail, just part of the background. As I have come to expect, these fabulous readers then started talking about how when you read something more than once you pick up on more and more details (which also happens when you watch TV shows or movies multiple times). I just love how they pull everything together and make connections to so many other things!!! We'll add student captions tomorrow to explain their drawings...
Our mental images from Charlotte's Web:
"I drew Wilbur in the apple tree sitting when the people came running after him. Mrs. Zuckerman yelled, "Wilbur's out!" and everyone chased him back to the barn." --- Haley
"I drew the barn and then, in the other picture, I drew Wilbur trying to get under the hay. Then I drew him trying to get down the hill and in the orchard." --- Dree
"I drew the barn with the hay and the pitchfork with the hay. I drew where Wilbur lived down in the right corner. The picture on the left shows the loose board where Wilbur escaped." --- Kaiden
"I drew Homer chasing the pig and the barn and the fence." --- Caleb
"I drew Wilbur digging up the soil because it was a great picture in my mind, and I could just see that happening in my head." --- Renata
"I drew a picture of the barn in the beginning of Charlotte's Web where her father was going to the barn to kill the pig. I can imagine that in my head." --- Allissa
"I drew the barn and made it look old, and I drew the horses in the barn. I also drew Fern watching Wilbur in his home." --- Ashlee
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