Kayla German

1st Grade
Burnley-Moran Elementary, Laura Melton
September 26, 2014
Topic:
Literacy: Visualizing
Enduring Understandings:

Visualizing helps with comprehension.

Visualizing is used to deepen understanding.

Essential Questions:

What words help me to best create a picture in my mind?

Does my mental image match the illustrators picture?

Primary Content Objectives:

Students will know: (facts/information)

Visualizing is creating a mental image in your mind.

Students will be able to do: (skills and behaviors)

Pick out descriptive words in a fiction text.

Use descriptive words to draw their mental picture.

Related state standards:

SOL Language Arts 1.8 The student will expand vocabulary.
a) Discuss meanings of words in context.
b) Develop vocabulary by listening to and reading a variety of texts.

Assessment:

A simple formative assessment will be used. Students will be asked to verbally answer
questions to check for their understanding. This will allow the teacher to differentiate the
lesson based on the students understanding.

Materials and Resources:

Close Your Eyes by Kate Banks

Chalk

Key Vocabulary and Definitions:

Visualizing: creating a mental picture/movie

Description: a statement that tell you how something looks

Lesson Procedures:
1. Begin the lesson by reminding students of the skill we have been working on for the
week: visualizing. Earlier this week we used stories to create what in our mind?
Picture or mental picture. Remind students by using the mental picture hand gesture
(taking a picture). What is that long word we use for this? Visualizing. If students are
unable to come up with this word provide them with prompts such as: It starts with /v/.
2. Explain to the students that today we will go outside to practice visualizing.
3. Ask students to brainstorm how to learn safely outside. Some examples include:
a. Listen to directions
b. Work quietly
c. Follow directions
d. Stay in the same spot
4. Walk the students outside to the sidewalk. Have the students sit down with enough space
in between to draw their visualizations.
5. Begin reading Close Your Eyes. Read slowly and one page at a time so the students can
process the words and draw their visualization on the sidewalk. Walk down the line of
students repeating the same page to ensure all students can hear the story and complete
the drawing of their mental picture.
6. Repeat the same steps with each page of the book, pausing in between pages for students
to finish their drawings.
7. In between pages check in with students to check for understanding. Sample questions
include:
a. Tell me about your drawing.
b. Why did choose to draw that?
c. What other details can you add to your visualization?
8. When the students have finished their visualizations instruct the students to stand for a
museum walk. This is for the students to get a chance to share their visualization and

view the other students visualizations. Remind the students to be careful where they step
so they do not mess up somebodys artwork
9. Return inside. Read Close Your Eyes again. This time have the students compare the
illustrators visualizations and their own visualizations. Sample questions include:
a. How is the illustrators picture different from your picture?
b. What is the same between your picture and this picture?
c. How did visualizing help you understand the story?
10. Wrap up the lesson by discussing words from the story that helped the students to create a
mental picture. Create a list of words on the SmartBoard.
Accommodations for individual differences:

Engage the students in feedback loops to deepen their understanding.

Differentiate questions based on the students ability level.
Use gestures with the students to help them remember the meaning visualization/mental
pictures (motion taking a picture)

Behavioral and organizational strategies:

1, 2, 3, eyes on me. 1, 2, eyes on you. is used to get the students attention.

When necessary students will change their clip on the behavior management stick, for
positive or negative behavior.
Tell students their expected behavior ahead of time i.e this is a quiet work time or a
whisper work time.

Reflection on teaching:
If I were to reteach this lesson I would have more chalk to share between the students so that
they could use more than one color in their visualizations. The students took a lot from this
activity, but I think they would take away even more if they were able to use more than one
color.
Reflection on student learning:
During this activity the students were able to incorporate their whole bodies. Not only did they
think about their mental picture, but the students drew their mental picture and also discussed
their reasoning behind their specific drawing. After this visualizing activity the students had a
deeper understanding of visualizing.