During the fall term we have been talking about what good readers do when reading. We have learned that good readers "connect" to the story, make "pictures" in their head (or visualize) and think about what they already know and how that connects to what they are reading. Today during Book Club we had to "make pictures" in our head while Mrs. Betts read us a story. The book was called "The Giant Pumpkin" by Joy Cowley. It was a short story about a giant pumpkin that grew too big so the people decided to use it for other things. First they made it into a baby's cradle, then into a bathtub, next into a double bed, then a truck, and finally it became a house. Before we started we closed our eyes and pictured what a giant pumpkin looked like. After reading the book we listed the five things that the pumpkin became on the board. Then we had to draw four of the pictures that we saw in our head. We had a lot of fun making pictures in our head. Some of the comments Mrs. Betts heard were: "oh man, this is so fun," "oh no now its a bed!" "oh I can't believe they made a cradle out of it." Here are some of the pictures we made in our head!
Visualizing is also an important tool as students transition into chapter books, since there are fewer picture clues to help their comprehension. I know that Matt and Nik really enjoyed this activity!
ReplyDeleteMatt and Nik's mom
Dear Division 12,
ReplyDeleteVisualizing is a very important reading skill and from your pictures I can see that you worked really hard to make a picture in your mind. Well done! At the beginning of the year your big buddies also did some work with visualization when they made prediction pictures for the story Three Questions by Jon J. Muth. If you had a giant pumpkin like the one in the story, what would you want to use it for?
From,
Mrs. Chapman
Hi Mrs.Chapman
ReplyDeleteIt is Peter Arshaan and Jenson I would use a pumpkin for a TV stand.