Share what your brain does while you read. Being clear and detailed with our children (or anyone else) about what we would like them to learn or understand is always the first step to building a skill.Īsk if their brain makes a movie while they read. The first step is to have an explicit conversation about visualizing what we read. So, how do you help your children build this visualization skill while they read? Think of all the times you need to find or remember something and you stop and make a picture in your head to help you. When you want or need to recall what you read at a later date, these sensory images you have created and then connected to other images in your mind will help. Through these connections, visualization helps your brain build a better and more in-depth memory of what you read. This is activating your background knowledge, which is an important reading comprehension strategy I discuss more in this post.ĭrawing on all these previous experiences builds connections in your brain of the new information you are learning and what you already know. If you picture a soldier in a book living in a Civil War tent, it is because you have seen a picture or video of one before. You also draw on information you have learned, but maybe haven’t experienced firsthand. If you imagine how a food smells, you are recalling how a similar food has smelled to you in the past. When you visualize what you read, you draw on the experience you already have of people, places, things, and events. Have you ever read something and realized that you kept “reading”, but you actually have no idea what the last few paragraphs you read said? A lot of times this is because you stopped making a movie of what you were reading. Imagining all of these sensations keeps you focused on what you are reading. You may even “ feel” sensations in your body such as chills or your stomach clenching.

You may “ hear” the crunching of the leaves as one of the characters walks in the woods. You may “ smell” the food cooking in story or even “ taste” it. We are also talking about the other sensations a story can make you feel. When we talk about visualizing what we read, we are not just talking about what you “ see“. Click here to read our full disclosure.) Visualization as a Reading Comprehension Strategy (Note: This post contains affiliate links for your convenience. Regardless, almost all children will improve their reading comprehension skills from their current level if you use some of the strategies below. Some children may do this naturally as they read and some may need some or a lot of help developing this skill.

Or in other words, making a movie of the book in our mind as it unfolds. Today’s reading comprehension strategy is using visualization as we read. This post is the first in a series about reading comprehension strategies.

Visualize reading strategy