English Language Arts

Reading Strategies—Visualizing

Concept sheet | English Language Arts

Secondary

1-5

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Reading Strategies At a Glance
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Definition

Visualizing is creating mental pictures of the text.

When to do it

While reading the text

Reading intention

Create a mental picture from the text

Outcome

Better understanding

Easier to remember characters, settings and story events

How to Do It

Look at the word choices
Use the 5 senses
Project yourself

The author’s purpose is reflected in the words used. Reflecting on the vocabulary choices can help create a precise mental picture that will enhance comprehension.

Example

Let’s take for example a story where a character enters a room. In the room, there is a cat and the character sees it for the first time.

Using a different adjective to describe the cat can change the character’s reaction.

A character in four instances of entering a room. In the first one, he is pleasantly surprised to see a cute little cat. In the second one, he is taken aback by seeing a giant cat. In the third one, he is completely baffled by the sight of a weird cat with wings and tentacles. In the fourth one, he is surprised that there is no cat.

Using a different verb to express the action of the character entering the room.

A character in four instances of entering a room. In the first one, he runs in. In the second one, he sneaks in. In the third one, he falls in. In the fourth one, he crawls in.

Reading Strategies At a Glance

To learn more about a strategy, click its name.

Previewing	Skimming & Scanning	Questioning
Get an overview of the text.	Quickly search & find information	Ask yourself questions
Visualizing	Making Connections	Inferring
Create mental pictures	Relate to the text	Read between the lines
Annotating	Decoding	Summarizing
Write down notes & comments	Understand challenging words	Sum up main idea & key elements
Synthesizing	Evaluating	Analyzing
Explore sources to come up with new perspectives	Form an opinion on the quality of the text	Look at the structure and techniques used

Reading Strategies At a Glance

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