Developing Reading Comprehension through use of the
Visualization Strategy
by
Amanda N. Nelson
A Seminar Paper Submitted
In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements
For the Degree of
Master of Science Education
Curriculum and Instruction
at
The University of Wisconsin Oshkosh
Oshkosh, WI 54901-8621
May 2005
First Reader:
Date:
Judith E. Hankes
Second Reader:
Date:
Michael E. Beeth
Third Reader:
Date:
Patti A. Asmus
Table of Contents
Acknowledgement ....................................................................................................... 3
Abstract ....................................................................................................................... 4
Statement of the Problem ............................................................................................. 4
Situating the Problem................................................................................................... 5
Review of Literature
Strategies are Vital in order to Teach Comprehension.............................................. 6
What is Visualization?............................................................................................. 7
Visualization as a Strategy....................................................................................... 7
Draw and Label Visualizations................................................................................ 8
Mind and Alternative Mind Portraits ....................................................................... 10
Visualizing with Wordless Picture Books ................................................................ 11
Visualizing from a Vivid Piece of Text.................................................................... 12
Visualizing in Reading, Showing Not Telling.......................................................... 13
Creating Mental Images that go beyond Visualization ............................................. 13
Summary................................................................................................................. 14
Methods
Participants ............................................................................................................. 14
Data Collection ....................................................................................................... 14
Methods of Data Analysis ....................................................................................... 15
Intervention............................................................................................................. 16
Results of Data Analysis
Anecdotal Remarks ................................................................................................. 24
Student Improvement Chart..................................................................................... 25
Conclusion ................................................................................................................... 28
Future Implications ...................................................................................................... 29
Reference Page ............................................................................................................ 30
Appendix A.................................................................................................................. 31
Appendix B.................................................................................................................. 33
Appendix C.................................................................................................................. 35
Appendix D.................................................................................................................. 37
Appendix E .................................................................................................................. 39
Appendix F .................................................................................................................. 41
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Acknowledgement
I would like to acknowledge Professor Judith Hankes of the University of WisconsinOshkosh for her help and support in conducting and formulating this research.
3
ABSTRACT
This study investigates the use of the Visualization strategy and its effectiveness
in enhancing students’ reading comprehension. The book Strategies that Work by
Stephanie Harvey and Anne Goudvis (2000) helped guide me in planning strategy lessons
that involved students’ higher level thinking and comprehension skills.
I implemented this strategy into my classroom over the course of three weeks.
Students were given a different method to aid in their comprehension every other day. A
children’s book or a short excerpt from a novel were used for demonstration and
assessment.
The study has found that comprehension skills do increase with the use of the
visualization strategy and also finds that students began thinking more critically and
became more confident and positive in their reading skills.
STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
I was a member of a task force hired to analyze and improve my district’s current
reading curriculum. Participation on this committee prompted me to assess my own
teaching, specifically my teaching of reading comprehension. This assessment led me to
realize that I needed to change. How should I change? was the question. While
investigating this concern, I found many different strategies, such as questioning,
inferring, and predicting that could be used to enhance reading comprehension. Then, I
came across the strategy of visualization. I learned that drawing can be used strategically
to teach reading comprehension. I was fascinated with this possibility and decided to
investigate the effect that drawing and visualization would have on my students’ reading
comprehension.
4
The question that focused my investigation was:
•
Will students’ reading comprehension improve through the use of
visualization and artwork?
SITUATING THE PROBLEM
I conducted this study in my fifth grade classroom during my third year of
teaching. The study site was a rural elementary school serving mostly farming, middleclass families. These families valued their children’s academic success.
During the year prior to this study, my school district attempted to restructure
each core curriculum area – including literacy. The restructuring included having a task
force identify teaching strategies for improving reading comprehension. While working
as a member of this committee, I came to realize that the reading comprehension
strategies that I had used were not very effective. In the past, I typically taught reading
using direct instruction and literature discussion circles. However, I always knew there
was something wrong. My students weren’t excited about reading nor were they
choosing to read for pleasure. Their comprehension skills were also lacking. This
worried me because I had always loved to read and I wondered why I was not able to
pass along this passion. In my own opinion, I felt other teachers were producing
excellent lessons using reading strategies that helped students comprehend the reading in
a much deeper sense.
While searching for strategies to improve reading comprehension, I was
especially interested to learn that drawing was identified as a specific reading
comprehension strategy. Research conducted by individuals such as Stephanie Harvey
and Anne Goudvis (2000) indicated that drawings can help students develop the ability to
5
visualize what is being read and speculate what may happen. In the past, I had used
drawing during reading instruction, however not as a specific strategy for teaching
comprehension. I had used it more as an activity and never really taught my students how
to use this as a tool to improve understanding of a reading selection. Could this really
work? I wondered. Could implementing drawing really help improve my students’
reading comprehension? I conducted the study reported here to answer this question.
REVIEW OF LITERATURE
Strategies are Vital in Order to Teach Comprehension
Learning to read is a tough process. Not only do children have to decode letters
into sounds and sentences into paragraphs, they must then understand what they are
reading-they must comprehend. However, comprehension goes beyond the literal
decoding of the text. Anne Goudvis and Stephanie Harvey (2000) define comprehension
in their book Strategies that Work as:
Comprehension means that readers think not only about what they are
reading but what they are learning. When readers construct meaning, they
are building their store of knowledge. But along with knowledge must
come understanding. (p. 9).
How does a teacher help children to achieve this level of comprehension? What
strategies can a teacher implement? The research of Goudvis and Harvey (2000) helps
answer this question. They offer many strategies, however the strategy that intrigues me
the most is the use of Visualization.
6
What is Visualization?
Goudvis and Harvey (2000) define visualization as, “creating pictures in our
minds that belong to us and no one else. Visualizing personalizes reading, keeps us
engaged, and often prevents us from abandoning a book prematurely.” Debbie Miller
(2001) in her book, Reading with Meaning, supports this idea by defining visualization
as, “forming a mental image in one’s mind.” She adds to Goudvis and Harvey’s
definition by focusing on a reader’s schema, or background knowledge. She believes that
everyone’s visualization is different because of each person’s unique background
knowledge developed in their individual schema. For example, by drawing the characters
or setting from a story, teachers can determine whether or not the student truly
understands where the story is taking place and which characteristics each person in the
book possesses. Drawings also allow the teacher to pinpoint any misconceptions a
student might have and be able to correct them.
Visualization as a Strategy
Visualization is just one of many strategies readers may use to enhance their
comprehension. Goudvis and Harvey (2000) suggest the use of a “gradual release of
responsibility which involves four levels of instruction:
1.
2.
3.
4.
Teacher Modeling
Guided Practice
Independent Practice
Application of the Strategy in Real Reading Situations
In order to be effective, the teacher must first model the strategy. This is done by
explaining the strategy, demonstrating it, and thinking aloud to model the thought
processes a student should go through.
7
Second, guided practice is needed to allow the students to begin with confidence.
The teacher and students should practice together. During this introductory phase, the
teacher encourages each student and gives positive feedback.
Next, students are given the opportunity to practice independently. Feedback,
such as talking with students or commenting on their drawing, is still a required
component of this step.
After completion of the first three steps, reading applications can be applied to a
new genre, format or difficulty.
Maureen McLaughlin (2003) discusses in her book, Guided Comprehension in the
Primary Grades, researched teaching ideas that can be used to implement the strategy of
visualization in the classroom. These include “Draw and Label Visualizations” and
“Mind/Alternative Mind Portraits”.
Draw-and-Label Visualizations
Draw-and-Label Visualizations are simple sketches that allow students to draw
the images in their minds as the teacher reads aloud. This, however, cannot be effective
for comprehension improvement without gradual release of responsibility, which is
explained below. Without this, students may not fully understand what they are expected
to accomplish.
Using the format that Goudvis and Harvey (2000) advocate, McLaughlin (2003)
implements the strategy lesson using “Draw-and-Label Visualizations” in the following
steps:
8
Teacher Models
1. The teacher first demonstrates (models) the strategy. This begins
by reading the title and first page to the students.
2. Then, the teacher sketches what she sees in her mind and labels the
picture. While doing this, the students are reminded that sketches
are acceptable. They will also see this by the teacher’s simple
sketch modeled for them.
3. After sketching and labeling, the teacher reads a few more pages
(or paragraphs depending on the length of the book) and again,
sketches what is visualized and labels it.
Guided Practice
1. The guided practice portion begins by the teacher reading aloud a
few more pages, stopping at points of interest.
2. Then, the teacher asks the students to visualize and create pictures
in their mind.
3. Next, the teacher encourages students to use the Think Aloud
(partner discussion) strategy to generate discussion and help
students to individually sketch their visions on paper.
4. The teacher thinks aloud and sketches while making certain that
this is done after students have sketched in their notebook, so they
do not use the teacher’s visualization.
5. After this, students share their sketches with their partner as the
teacher walks around and points out individual differences.
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Independent Practice
1. The individual practice portion begins with the teacher continuing
to read the book aloud while students individually draw and label
their visualizations.
2. When complete, students share their finished product and discuss
the story.
3. Have students reflect on how drawing influenced their
comprehension. During the reflection, the following two questions
should be the focus:
•
•
How does the use of draw and label visualizations help us understand what
we are reading?
How can we use visualizing while reading different types of text?
Mind and Alternative Mind Portraits
Maureen McLaughlin (2003) recommends a variation of the visualization process
in the form of Mind and Alternative Mind Portraits. These are helpful when analyzing a
text from two different perspectives. To do this, the classroom will use two characters
from a story and record their thoughts, sketch and write their words inside the portrait.
The following steps are taken to complete this activity:
1. Discuss how individuals can look at things from different points of
view by focusing on examples such as being late for school from
the student, teacher and parent’s perspective.
2. Introduce the story and explain that while reading, different
perspectives should be thought about.
10
3. Choose two characters and record the ideas using draw-and-label
visualizations. (The teacher sketches her ideas on the board for the
students to see.)
4. Continue to read story and encourage students to contribute ideas
to the teacher’s portrait.
5. While the teacher reads the rest of the book, stop to ask students
about what should be added.
6. During the reflection period, the following two question should be
the focus:
•
•
How does visualizing help us understand what we are reading?
How does viewing the story from different points of view help us to
understand the book?
In addition to these ideas, Goudvis and Harvey (2000) explain the ideas of
“Visualizing with Wordless Pictures”, “Visualizing from a Nonfiction Text”,
“Visualizing in Reading, Showing not Telling”, and “Creating Mental Images that go
beyond Visualization”. The following is a summary of their research:
Visualizing with Wordless Picture Books
Wordless picture books can be used by taking the clues revealed in the
illustrations and combining them with the missing pictures in our mind to create meaning.
These steps are taken to complete this lesson:
1. Look at the book together.
2. When a good stopping point comes that can be used to predict the next
page, draw your prediction.
11
3. Keep reading the book while stopping at a few points to have students
predict through their drawings. Give prompts when necessary.
4. Finish reading the book and have students share their predictions.
5. Reflect upon this lesson by using these questions:
•
•
How does visualization help us understand predictions better?
How does predicting help us understand predictions better?
Visualizing from a Vivid Piece of Text
A text that has a vivid and detailed description is sure to fill students’ minds full
of visualizations. This is similar to McLaughlin’s “Draw and Label Visualizations”,
however this lesson should be taught in a small group atmosphere to merge schema and
the text in order to create visual images. The following steps are taken to complete this
lesson:
1. Teacher reads the passage out loud to the group and asks them to
close their eyes and visualize the scene.
2. When finished reading, simply say, “Tell me what you see.”
3. Students share their visualizations.
4. After discussion, students sketch their visualization.
5. Share sketches and point out the differences in each sketch.
Discuss the reasons for these differences (schema).
6. Focus on the following two questions during the reflection:
•
•
How do draw and label visualizations help us understand what we are
reading?
How does visualizing help us be creative?
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Visualizing in Reading, Showing Not Telling
Harvey and Goudvis (2000) recommend using this lesson to facilitate and
promote class discussion about images created in students’ minds. It involves students
and the teacher charting student responses.
1. Teacher reads the passage out loud. Be sure the passage chosen is full of
vivid nouns and verbs.
2. Reread the passage and ask the students to close their eyes and visualize
the scene.
3. With eyes still closed, have students comment on what they see.
4. After comments are given, label them with the correct parts of speech,
while discussing what makes them vivid.
5. Focus on the following question during the reflection:
•
How can visualizing help you to retell a personal experience?
Creating Mental Images that go beyond Visualization
Harvey and Goudvis (2000) believe that proficient readers create images from all
of their senses when they read. Well-written text allows us to taste, touch, hear and smell
images as well as see them when we read.
1. Teacher reads passage aloud.
2. Have students envision themselves as a character in the text.
3. Then, give the students the text to look again at the words.
4. Have students write down what they heard, smelled, tasted and felt as well
as saw.
5. Focus on the following question during the reflection:
13
•
How does visualizing help us make the character feel more real?
Summary
Enhancing understanding, acquiring knowledge and constructing meaning are the
goals of reading comprehension (Harvey and Goudvis, 2000). The above visualization
strategies aid in achieving this goal.
My review of the research studies of Debbie Miller, Maureen McLaughlin, and
Stephanie Harvey and Anne Goudvis provided me with a wonderful variety of practical
ideas to use in my classroom. In the following section, I report on how I implemented
these ideas when conducting a classroom research study.
METHODS
Participants
When this study was conducted, my class consisted of 24 fifth graders, 10 boys
and 14 girls, with reading abilities that ranged from early fourth grade to late sixth grade.
My students’ past experience with reading instruction consisted of mostly direct
instruction and small and whole group discussion. My students previously had no
visualization instruction.
All of my students participated in the intervention and their comprehension scores
were documented and analyzed. I chose to analyze all of my students using
comprehension questions because I wanted to see how visualization influenced each
student and whether some students benefited more than others.
Data Collection
Two forms of data were collected and analyzed in this study, achievement scores
and classroom observation notes.
14
Pre and post achievement scores were collected by having the students read a
selection (Appendix A) and then answer comprehension questions about the selection.
The comprehension questions were similar in nature (critical thinking and predicting
questions), and the story selections were different. Each story was read only once before
completing the comprehension assessment.
When completing the post assessment, students were reminded to use the
visualization strategy to help them with their answers. No other reminders or review was
given.
Methods of Data Analysis
A rubric with a twenty-point scale was developed for assessing student responses
based on the following criteria:
•
Did the student answer the question accurately? (5 points)
•
Are specific points from the text included in the answer? (5 points)
•
Was the student thorough and detailed in his/her answer? (5 points)
•
Did the student use the visualization strategy to help them with the
answer? If not, did they show the use of any strategy? (5 points)
Pre and post-test achievement results were organized into a data table and
analyzed to determine whether visualization instruction increased my students’ reading
comprehension. Analysis of this data also allowed me to determine which students
benefited most from the intervention.
Qualitative methods were used to analyze the observations that I had recorded
during whole class discussion, small group discussion and candid conversation. This
analysis involved selecting the statements and questions I found to be most insightful in
15
their notebook. I then compared what I had written with how I felt and how I thought my
students felt about my past practice.
Intervention
I followed most of the step-by-step instructions provided in Harvey and Goudvis’
book, Strategies that Work(2000) and Maureen McLaughlin’s book, Guided
Comprehension in the Primary Grades(2003). I found that out of the massive amount of
research that has been done on reading comprehension, these two sources were the most
valuable and useful for teacher instruction. The reading selections that I used are detailed
in Appendix B.
I added some steps in the process to include building background knowledge and
small group/partner discussion. Some of the lessons did not require these components;
however, occasionally I felt they were important enough to be included.
To begin with, I administered a pretest to determine a baseline assessment, using
an excerpt from the story, Pride of Puerto Rico by Paul Robert Walker. My students
were told to read the story and answer the following questions:
•
What did you like or not like about this story? (Personal Opinion)
•
What special qualities did people see in young Roberto Clemente?
(Critical thinking)
•
Roberto was very upset that he had lost the baseball game. Why
didn’t his father seem to care about that at all? (Critical thinking)
•
Don Melchor gave his son Roberto advice for leading a good life.
What other positive qualities and values do you think are important
for leading a good life? Write a paragraph describing these
16
qualities and values and providing examples to support your
opinion. (Making Connections)
Lesson 1: Draw and Label Visualizations
The next day, I implemented my first strategy lesson – Draw and Label
Visualizations. I used an excerpt from the book, Whose Side Are You On? by Emily
Moore about a girl named Barbra that throws away her report card when she sees that
her grades are not satisfactory. Barbra goes through many emotions as she has to tell
her mom and teacher about what she has done.
The following steps were taken to teach this first lesson of six using the
visualization strategy:
1. I began my lesson by doing an activity to build my students’ background
knowledge of mental images. I asked for two of my students to come to
the front of the room. Sandy and John volunteered. I told them about a
girl named Sally who was walking to the store. I stopped and asked them
to write down in their notebooks, how they visualized Sally. Sandy
visualized her with curly, brown hair, wearing a blue dress and brown
buckled shoes. John saw her as having short, blonde hair, wearing a white
shirt, khaki pants and black shoes. This was perfect! I was able to show
students that each of us has a different was of visualizing something in our
heads because of schema, or background knowledge. My students were
delighted to use the word, schema, because they felt it made them feel
“grown-up”.
17
2. Next, I read them the title and the first page and modeled what I saw in my
mind on the board. I then labeled the picture with a short paragraph
detailing what I had just drawn.
3. I read a few more pages and again, sketched what I visualized and labeled
it.
4. Then, I read a few more pages and asked the students to help me draw a
visualization and label it, which naturally led to a discussion as to what
everyone was visualizing in their heads. A student asked me at this point,
“Ms. Nelson, in my mind, Barbra has straight hair, but you have curly hair
on her. Is that all right?” This question prompted me to review schema
and her question was all cleared up.
5. I then read a few more pages and asked my students to create one of their
own in their notebooks. After this, they shared their draw-and-label
visualizations with their partner and discussed similarities and differences.
6. The individual practice began after this. I read and my students decided
when to draw their visualization and label it. (Appendix B)
7. The visualizations were then shared with their partner and used to answer
the following comprehension questions:
•
Would you like to read more about Barbra? (Personal Opinion)
•
Do the characters in the story seem real to you? Why or why not?
(Critical Thinking)
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Lesson 2: Mind and Alternative Mind Portraits
A week later, I implemented my second strategy lesson – Mind and Alternative
Mind Portraits. I used the book The Kid in the Red Jacket by Barbara Park. This
book is about a boy named Howard who begins school without friends, except for an
annoying first-grader name Molly Vera Thompson. The selection we read detailed
Howard’s first days at school, coming to grips with not knowing anyone, having a
nuisance follow him around all day, and how he overcame both of these situations.
The following steps were used to implement this lesson:
1. I began my lesson my doing an activity to introduce different points of
view. I gave each partner group a situation and they had to make up a
short paragraph story telling what happened from their character’s point of
view.
2. We shared the different points of view with the class and had fun
discussing the situations and whether or not we had ever experienced one
of the situations.
3. Next, I introduced the story and explained that there were two characters
that I wanted them to focus on – Howard and Molly. Howard was the
main character and Molly would be what is called a supporting character.
4. Then I read the first page of the story, which has a lot of detail about
Howard and Molly. I asked the students what they knew about these
characters. They replied with, “Molly is annoying,” and “Howard doesn’t
like Molly.” I then, guided them to remember what the text said about
these characters.
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5. Next, I began drawing what the students were saying. I also wrote short
phrases on the board, that I couldn’t immediately think of a drawing for. I
read a few more pages of the story, while stopping at points to ask
students to add to my portrait.
6. After this, I felt my students were ready to try drawing individually, so I
gave them an activity sheet with two faces, one on each side of the page.
One face was labeled Howard and one was labeled Molly. I instructed
them to fill in what they know so far about these characters using
drawings and words and phrases.
7. I read the rest of the story, while my students added to their portraits.
(Appendix C)
8. When the story was complete and their portraits were drawn, I asked my
students to answer the following questions:
•
Do you think Howard’s day was miserable or funny? Why? (Personal Opinion)
•
What was Howard’s problem? (Critical Thinking)
Lesson 3: Visualizing with Wordless Picture Books
A few days later, I taught the third lesson in my intervention – Visualizing with
Wordless Picture Books. This lesson was taught in a small group atmosphere. I chose to
use the book, Zoom! by Istvan Banyai because it is very effective to aid in teaching
predicting. The book starts out focused on what looks like a red blob, but then on the
next page, you see it is a rooster’s crown. When you turn the page again, you see a child
looking at the rooster. As you can see, the book “zooms” out as you turn each page.
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1. To begin the lesson, I introduced the book explaining that there were no
words in this book and that we were going to focus on our predicting
skills. I showed my students the first page (the red blob) and had them try
to guess what it was. A lot of my students thought it was a dinosaur, and
others thought it was a crown of some sort.
2. I turned to the next page and to their delight – it was a rooster’s crown.
This only heightened their enthusiasm to see what was on the next page.
3. As I turned each page, the anticipation grew, along with the smiles and
laughter. They were really excited about this book! Zoom! was the
perfect book for this lesson because of its predictable situations.
4. I came to a stopping point about _ of the way through the book. It was a
picture of an island with a view from above. I asked them to draw a
picture to predict what the next page looked like.
5. Many drew a helicopter or a plane, however paying little attention to the
background detail. So, I prompted them to think, what would the island
look like? They then began to draw small people and trees. (Appendix D)
6. I then showed them the next page. It was of the pilot of the plane. My
students realized they had jumped ahead in the book a little faster than the
author did. One student commented, “We zoomed out faster than the
book!” I found that very amusing.
7. We looked at the rest of the book together. Then, I asked them to answer
the following question:
•
How does predicting help understand a book more clearly?
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Lesson 4: Visualizing from a Vivid Piece of Text
The next day, I sat down with the same groups as the day before, to teach the
fourth lesson – Visualizing from a Vivid Piece of Text. This lesson uses draw-and-label
visualizations to aid in comprehension, just as my first lesson. However, this is taught in
small groups, allowing us to focus on our own schema and create connections to the text.
I chose the book, Charlotte’s Web by E. B. White. This book was recommended
to use by Harvey and Goudvis (2000) because of its vivid description of the barn that
Charlotte lives in.
1. I began the lesson by turning off the lights and asking my students to put
their heads down on their desks and close their eyes. I explained to them
that the only thing they had to do right now was visualize what I was
going to read. I did not tell them the name of the book because I know
they have all read it before and seen the movie, so I didn’t want them to
think of that.
2. I began reading the first two pages of chapter 3, very slowly and clearly.
My students were very cooperative by keeping their eyes closed and heads
down. When I was finished reading, I told them not to move and when
they opened their eyes, there would be a piece of paper on their desk for
them to draw what they see in their minds right now.
3. My students opened their eyes and began to draw. No one talked or
looked at each other. They just began to draw, which please me because it
showed me they were comfortable with the visualization strategy.
(Appendix E)
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Lesson 5: Visualizing in Reading, Showing Not Telling
This lesson can be used to review parts of speech and introduce a great piece of
literature. I chose Behind Rebel Lines by Seymour Reit, which is about a girl who
wanted to fight in the Civil War, but was not allowed to because she was a girl. So, she
cuts her hair and dresses like a man to be accepted by the soldiers.
1. I read a passage from the novel out loud to my students.
2. Next, I shut off the lights and had them put their heads down and close
their eyes. I read the passage again, telling them to visualize the scene in
their heads.
3. After I was finished reading the selection, I told them to keep their heads
down and their eyes closed. One at a time, I asked them to tell me what
they were seeing. I wrote everything on the board.
4. When they were finished visualizing orally, I had them look at what they
had said. We went around the room and put a rectangle around the nouns,
underlined the verbs and put a triangle around the adjectives.
5. We then discussed how using adjectives, nouns and verbs were helpful in
retelling a personal experience.
Lesson 6: Creating Mental Images that go beyond Visualization
This lesson combines Draw-and-Label Visualizations with Mind-and-Alternative
Mind Portraits. It involves reading a selection and creating a visualization from the point
of view of a character in the book.
I chose the book, Walk Two Moons by Sharon Creech because it is written so
well in first person. The main character is a girl about the same age as my students who
23
goes on a car trip with her grandparents learning about herself and others all the way.
The chapter I read to them was the first chapter, so they were being introduced to the text
and the characters.
1. I read the first chapter out loud to my students.
2. Next, I shut off the lights and had them put their heads down and close
their eyes.
3. I reread the chapter asking the students to focus on their five senses while
they visualized.
4. Then, I had them create a draw-and-label visualization as if they were the
main character in the book. (Appendix F)
Data Analysis
Upon completion of the four-week intervention, I found three major changes.
First, student answers to comprehension questions improved. Most answers became
more in-depth and thoughtful. For example, before the intervention, one of my
students didn’t even answer all four questions. She could only complete one:
What did you like or not like about this story?
“I did not like when it was going from one person to another one.” (Student A)
During post-assessment, she was able to answer all four questions in the same amount
of time as the pre-assessment and her answers were much more detailed.
One of the questions in the post-assessment was:
If you were playing baseball, would you like to have Shirley Temple Wong on your
team? Why or why not?
Her response to this question was:
24
“Yes, because Shirley was lucky in the first game. She can be a friend. She is
confident and is a fast learner. She is becoming a good player. Stickball is now her
favorite game.” (Student A) The improvement in her word use and thinking is
evident. This was true for almost all of my students.
The chart below illustrates the baseline scores, final assessment scores and change
of score.
Table 1: Pre and Post Assessment Scores
Student
Name
Score on
Baseline
Student 1
Student 2
Student 3
Student 4
Student 5
Student 6
Student 7
Student 8
Student 9
Student 10
Student 11
Student 12
Student 13
Student 14
Student 15
Student 16
Student 17
Student 18
Student 19
Student 20
Student 21
Student 22
Student 23
Student 24
2
11
10
11
15
12
10
14
15
10
9
10
17
15
15
15
18
15
9
16
18
15
16
17
Score on
Final
Assessment
19
20
18
18
20
17
15
19
19
14
12
13
19
17
17
16
19
16
10
16
17
12
10
11
25
Change
+17
+9
+8
+7
+5
+5
+5
+5
+4
+4
+3
+3
+2
+2
+2
+1
+1
+1
+1
0
-1
-3
-6
-6
As the chart above indicates, twenty students out of my entire class of twenty-four
students, or 83%, improved their scores on comprehension questions. Eight students
improved in both the 0-2 points category and the 3-5 points category. Three students
improved by 7-9 points and 1 student (the student who’s answers were
given as an example) improved 17 points! This student’s improvement makes me
the proudest because I was able to find a way to help her enjoy reading and
understand what she was reading enough to answer questions accurately and
thoroughly.
However, not all of my students improved. One student regressed by 1 point,
another student regressed by 3 points and two students regressed by 6 points. I sat
down with these students, individually, to ask them why they thought their scores
decreased. One student said, “Well, I don’t really enjoy drawing, so when I looked
back at my sketches, I didn’t really know where I was going.” This is an answer that
I expected to receive and in actuality, it was the answer from each of the four
students. I explained to each student that drawing isn’t the main focus of this
strategy. The focus is to be actively involved while you are reading, so that you
understand and remember the story better. I encouraged them to focus less on the
drawing aspect of the activities and more on the labeling or writing portion because
that seems to work the best for them.
I also found that my students’ answers for personal opinion comprehension
questions improved quickly, however when answering critical thinking questions the
improvement took some more time. They focused more on the surface problems of
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the character or text and not the “deep-down” problem. As time passed, they did
begin to identify with the characters and were able to critically think about a question.
One thing that was particularly interesting to me was that I had a student in my
class whose family was born in Sri Lanka. Therefore, she was of an Indian
background. I asked my students what skin color they thought of when I read this
book and everyone said, “white”, including my Indian student. I asked her if she
always thought of students being Caucasian and she replied, “yes.” Then, I asked my
students to look in their book and see how the author saw these characters, and to
their surprise, the characters were African American. This resulted in much
excitement and enthusiasm about how different people see things.
Another change that occurred because of the intervention was that students’
attitudes towards reading became more positive. My students were smiling and
talking about the stories with each other. Even days after the reading, students could
still talk candidly about the characters and the plot within the reading. I even
overheard a student proclaim, “I never knew reading could be this fun!”
Students also began asking me my opinion on books more so than before and
were more interested in my reading preferences. Did I like nonfiction? What kind?
Did I like science fiction? What is my favorite book? I felt better connected with my
students as a reader.
The last change that occurred because of the intervention was that my ability to
teach reading improved; therefore my confidence level increased. For the first time, I
really felt that I was making a difference in the lives of my students when it came to
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reading. I was lighting a spark in them that was long overdue and creating excitement
about books that may have never been taken off the shelf.
Using reading strategies also gives my lessons a purpose. There is a common
goal that my students and I are trying to accomplish and the steps we take are taken
together. These strategies also overflow into other subject areas. I now find myself
assigning Mind and Alternative Mind Portraits when talking about the Civil War and
Draw and Label Visualizations when talking about solar energy. The students
immediately see the connection and an excitement builds in my classroom. It is so
refreshing to experience.
Conclusion
The use of reading strategies provides a tool and a purpose for reading. The
visualization strategy has improved students’ comprehension scores. They have a
better understanding of the author’s purpose and the meaning behind the events of the
story.
In addition to this, my students are experiencing a higher level of enjoyment when
reading. They are picking up on humor and underlying themes in their reading that
they would not have noticed before. This creates a more positive environment in my
room during reading time and my students actually look forward to reading other
texts.
I am happy to share students’ work with other students as well as my colleagues.
They are able to reflect on what they have written and understood. Their critical
thinking skills have increased which allows them to apply these thinking skills to
other curriculum areas.
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Future Implications
In the future, I plan to continue using the visualization strategy in my classroom.
I will also begin studying other strategies such as questioning, predicting, inferring, and
connecting. These strategies will be used across all curriculum areas to help students
comprehend the text that they are reading. The use of strategies will be a key component
when determining students’ achievement in reading because using them can only lead to
success.
In addition, I would like to share my study and findings to colleagues and collect
feedback. Hopefully, they will learn new ideas from me and want to implement them
into their classroom.
All in all, this study has provided me with valuable information that I will be able
to use in my classroom for many years. Using reading strategies to enhance
comprehension has proved to be effective and enjoyable for my students.
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References
Goudvis, A. & Harvey, S. (2000). Strategies That Work: Teaching Comprehension to
Enhance Understanding. New York, NY: Stenhouse Publishers.
McLaughlin, M. (2003). Guided Comprehension in the Primary Grades. Newark, NJ:
International Reading Association.
Miller, D. (2002). Reading with Meaning. Portland, OR: Stenhouse Publishers.
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Appendix A
31
List of Reading Selections
Banyai, Istvan. Zoom! Penguin Putnam Books for Young Readers. (1998).
Creech, Sharon. Walk Two Moons. HarperCollins Children's Books. (1996).
Lord, Bette Bao. “In the Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson” Treasury of Literature:
Volume 1. Harcourt Brace and Company. (1996). Pages T51-T57.
Moore, Emily. “Whose Side Are You On?” Treasury of Literature: Volume 1. Harcourt
Brace and Company. (1996). Pages T87-T94.
Park, Barbara. “The Kid in the Red Jacket.” Treasury of Literature: Volume 1. Harcourt
Brace and Company. (1996). Pages T23-T30.
Reit, Seymour. “Behind Rebel Lines” Treasury of Literature: Volume 1. Harcourt
Brace and Company. (1996). Pages T198-T199.
Walker, Paul Robert. “Pride of Puerto Rico” Treasury of Literature: Volume 1.
Harcourt Brace and Company. (1996). Pages T115-T121.
White, E.B. Charlotte’s Web. HarperCollins Publishers. (1974).
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Appendix B
33
Draw and Label Visualization
34
Appendix C
35
Mind/Alternative Mind Portrait
36
Appendix D
37
Visualizing with Wordless Picture Books
38
Appendix E
39
Visualizing from a Vivid Piece of Text
40
Appendix F
41
Creating Mental Images that go beyond Visualization
42
43