Comprehension Strategies. Creating Sensory Images

Size: px

Start display at page:

Download "Comprehension Strategies. Creating Sensory Images"

Damon Weaver
7 years ago
Views:

1 Comprehension Strategies Creating Sensory Images Motion Picture of the Mind Highly Visual Books Miss Rumphius, Barbara Cooney When Grampa Kissed His Elbow, Cynthia DeFelice Tar Beach, Faith Ringgold Home Place, Crescent Dragonwagon The Napping House, Audrey Wood Night Sounds, Morning Colors, Rosemary Wells Color Me a Rhyme, Jane Yolen Read picture books to your preschooler. As you read, talk about what you see in your mind, then ask him what he sees. Look at the pictures together. Talk about what the pictures make you see, smell, taste, and feel. Together, look at wordless books (pictures only, no text). Talk about what the pictures mean to you and what they make you think, feel, envision, hear. The illustrations are great for you and your child to practice making mind pictures as both of you describe the scenes and action in your own words. Readers of picture books create mental images that go beyond the illustration. Talk to your child about those images. What do the words make you see, hear, smell? Select words or phrases that give you a particularly vivid mental image and share with your child the picture these word paint. It s great if your child has different images. The important thing is to make sure your child turns on her movie camera!

As you read, talk about what you see in your mind, then ask him what he sees. Look at the pictures together. Talk about what the pictures make you see, smell, taste, and feel.

2 Making Connections Background Knowledge Background knowledge is all that you as a reader bring to a book: your personal history, all you ve read or seen, your adventures, the experiences of your day-to-day life, your relationships, your passions. Susan Zimmermann and Chryse Good Books for Building Background Knowledge Rosalie, Joan Hewett Let the Celebrations Begin!, Margaret Wild Amazing Grace, Mary Hoffman Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day, Judith Viorst Chrysanthemum, Kevin Henkes Corduroy, Don Freeman Ira Sleeps Over, Bernard Waber Lily s Purple Plastic Purse, Kevin Henkes When Sophie Gets Angry, Molly Bang Young children connect their lives to words, ideas, and pictures. Encourage your child to stop and talk about what experiences the story reminds her of. You might open a conversation by saying, When I read the words, it reminded me of the time when. You might also say, Thinking about the time when makes me wonder if. What do you think? By learning to personalize reading this way, your child will become a more interactive reader. His connections will lead to predictions, questions, emotional responses, and deeper understanding. Your child also needs to hear you read and reflect when a word or phrase is confusing or you lack adequate background knowledge to understand what is happening. Show your child how you build your background knowledge to understand what s going on in the book. Start by saying, I m confused when I read these words:. Then think your way through the confusing text out loud. Ask questions, make some predictions. Let your child hear how you puzzle through confusing or difficult text. As you share your thoughts with your child, make it a natural interchange. Your child will learn to build background knowledge and deepen understanding.

, Margaret Wild Amazing Grace, Mary Hoffman Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day, Judith Viorst Chrysanthemum, Kevin Henkes Corduroy, Don Freeman Ira Sleeps Over, Bernard Waber

3 Why, What, Where, Who, and How Asking Questions Books That Raise Questions: The Sick Day, Patricia MacLachlan Elmer, David McKee Charlie Anderson, Barbara Abercrombie The Bracelet, Yoshiko Uchida Uncle Jed s Barbershop, Margaree King Mitchell Amazing Bone, Cynthia Rylant Elbert s Bad Word, Audrey Wood Once When I Was Scared, Helena Clare Pittman Tops and Bottoms, Janet Steven To know how to question, your child needs to hear your questions first. This isn t about asking your child questions. Instead, it s about modeling what it means to be curious by sharing the questions you have while you read. Don t rush to answer the questions right away. Let the questions hang in the air. Ask some questions and then let your child take a turn asking questions that come to her mind. Look at the cover of the book. Ask some questions about what you notice. Make it clear that some of the questions will be answered as you read and others might not. Ask I wonder questions while you read. Asking questions will help you and your child uncover the meaning of the story. Let your child know that it s okay to ask questions before, during, and after reading the story. Play the I Wonder Game. Start the conversation with, I wonder if or I wonder why The risk-free environment of your home is the perfect place for helping your child develop the powerful thinking strategy of questioning. Encourage your child to ask about new words and discover the meaning together. Asking questions often lead to wonderful discussions about many topics. The important thing is for your child to learn to value her questions and be aware of how they increase her understanding. Take a walk outside and generate questions for an I Wonder book. Go to the library and do some research to find the answers.

question, your child needs to hear your questions first. This isn t about asking your child questions.

4 Weaving Sense into Words Drawing Inferences Books That Require Inferring Charlie Anderson, Barbara Abercrombie Elbert s Bad Word, Audrey Wood Fireflies, Julie Brinkloe Frank and Earnest, Alexandra Day George and Martha, James Marshall Grandfather Twilight, Barbara Berger My Mama Had a Dancing Heart, Libba Moore Gray Who Does This Job?, Pat Upton The Sign Painter, Allen Say Play word games, read riddle books, listen to rhyming songs to set the stage for inferring. Games like, I m thinking of a something that is red and begins with an A, are great ways to get kids thinking. Leaving off the rhyming word in a poem or song or thinking about the answer to a riddle helps your child take background knowledge, think about what would make sense, and predict an answer. When you infer, you take a chance. Taking a guess and making a prediction can be scary business. Here s a great opportunity to foster this skill in a safe and loving environment. It s okay to be wrong and take a risk. Make a prediction. Letting your child know how you came up with your prediction or answer will show him how to create inferences. Help your child shape an idea about a character by reflecting on how the character acts at the beginning of the story and changes by the end. Show the thinking behind your conclusions. As you read, say, I m going to stop reading for a minute so we can think together about what this all means. Say, I m guessing because. Language for Drawing Inferences I predict I think that My guess is That s just what I thought Now, this is a surprise My conclusion here is

, Pat Upton The Sign Painter, Allen Say Play word games, read riddle books, listen to rhyming songs to set the stage for inferring.

5 What s Important and Why Determining Importance & Synthesizing What kids say about determining importance and synthesizing. Determining importance is like a strainer, and the words like noodles in a pot. It sifts out the water and leaves the noodles. In nonfiction, it can be very helpful to leave tracks in the snow (writing around the edges), highlighting and picking wow facts [things that you think are more important than the others]. When I look back to before I used determining importance, I can t see how I got by. It s like the light at the end of the tunnel. - From Debbie Behnfield s Fifth-Grade Class What kids say about synthesizing. As you collect information from your book, you need to notice your changing thoughts. It s your thinking and background knowledge added to the summary. It helps you understand more about the book. - From Margaret Wing s Third-Grade Class for Determining Importance and Synthesizing Koala Lu, Mem Fox Red Leaf, Yellow Leaf, Lois Elhert Wild Horse Winter, Tetsuyu Honda Monarch Butterfly, Gail Gibbons El Chino, Allen Say And So They Build, Bert Kitchen Fireflies in the Night, Judy Hawes The Tortilla Factory, Gary Paulsen Your preschool child is learning what s important about life: to look both ways before crossing, how to share, healthy food like apples, etc. As you spend time together, talk about what the word important means. Share important information. Model what s important to remember in the books you read together. Make it fun. Ask, Do you thing that s important? when your read something factual. Show your emerging reader that reading is an action sport and that she is the key player. As she reads help her find new facts and gain knowledge. Stop and consider what s important as you read together. Distinguish between facts that are interesting and facts that are important. By making decisions, your child s awareness is heightened. He will continue to search for answers. Show your child how to sift and sort through information. Note how your thinking changes as you digest new facts. That will deeper understanding.

In nonfiction, it can be very helpful to leave tracks in the snow (writing around the edges), highlighting and picking wow facts [things that you think are more important than the others].

6 Read a variety of nonfiction like travel brochures, charts, pamphlets, magazines, catalogues, and maps.

ACTIVITY. pbsparents.com/catinthehat/

ACTIVITY. pbsparents.com/catinthehat/ Overview The Cat in the Hat Knows a Lot About That! Have you ever noticed how your child explores the world by using all of his senses? You can help him think more about how he sees, hears, smells, feels,