Sensory Images
What images do I see, hear, feel,
taste, and smell?
© 2012 Teachers For Teachers. All rights reserved.
Unit of Study: Sensory Images
Prior Knowledge
What prior knowledge about
comprehension do students need to
have before entering this Unit of
Study?
Definition
What is creating sensory images?
What is schema?
Monitoring for Meaning
Creating sensory images is a strategy readers use to think
more deeply about a text. It is when a reader combines
their schema and the information in the text to create an
image in their mind. This image can represent all of the five
senses (visual, smell, taste, sound, touch or feeling). Creating
sensory images also helps a reader draw on specific details in
the text (e.g. a character’s thoughts, words or actions;
elements of tone, meaning or beauty of a text), creating an
interaction between the reader and the text. When readers
make sensory images as they read, it helps them understand
and enjoy the story more. It is as if you are experiencing the
text as it is happening and it is hard to stop reading.
© 2012 Teachers For Teachers. All rights reserved.
2
Unit of Study: Sensory Images
Literary Elements:
WHAT an author uses to compose
the text. Readers pay attention to
the literary elements when reading
(details in a text) in order to infer
the text’s deeper meaning.
Literary Elements Include:
Characters
Setting
Problem/Conflict
Solution/Resolution
Theme
Title
How do images help us notice and infer about CHARACTERS:
 What characters say, act or think
 Characters’ feelings
 How do characters look and sound
 Characters’ motivations
 Characters’ perspectives or points of view
 How characters respond to problems/conflicts
(internal or external)
 How characters change (internally versus externally)
 How characters impact or influence each other
How do images help us notice and infer about SETTING:
 What kind of place is this
 How does this place look, sound, smell, feel
 How the social, historical, political or economic
context for this text for this setting help me know
how it looks, sounds, smells and feels
How do images help us notice and infer about
PROBLEMS/CONFLICTS:
 Describe major events (see, hear, feel, smell)
 Describe how characters respond to conflicts (see,
hear, feel, smell)
 Understand internal conflicts characters face (man
vs. himself) (man vs man) (see, hear, feel, smell)
 Understand how characters respond to conflict
How do images help us notice and infer about
SOLUTIONS/RESOLUTIONS
 Understand how characters solve or resolve problems
 (see, hear, feel, smell)
 Understand what characters learn (see, hear, feel,
smell)
 Describe how characters respond to conflict and how
this impacts the resolution (see, hear, feel, smell)
THEME: Readers pay attention to what characters’ learn
and how characters’ change in order to infer the bigger
messages in the text
How do images help us notice and infer about THEMES:
 How does the themes/message/moral make us feel
How do images help us notice and infer about TITLE:
 What is the title
 Why the author chose the title
 How the title connects to characters
 How the title connects to themes
© 2012 Teachers For Teachers. All rights reserved.
3
Unit of Study: Sensory Images
Literary Crafts/Devices –
HOW an author chooses to convey
meaning. Literary devices are tools
an author uses convey deeper
meaning.
Word Choice/Figurative Language
Structure
Theme
Mood
Symbolism
Point of View
WORD CHOICE: We notice the words authors’ choose and
we infer how these decisions add imagery to the text.
Figurative Language:
 Repetition – Authors repeat words or phrases to
draw attention
 Similes – Authors use comparisons using like or as to
show how two unlike objects or ideas are similar
 Metaphor –Authors use comparisons to show how two
unlike objects or ideas are similar

STRUCTURE: We notice the way authors’ structure texts
and we infer why authors make these specific decisions to
impact the imagery in the text:
 Organization of overall text (chapters show
different time periods, different character’s points
of view)
 Dialogue between characters
 Description
 Characters’ inner thinking
POINT OF VIEW: The different perspectives of the
characters, the author and the reader and how point of view
impacts the imagery in the text
 Who is telling the story
 Whose point of view is missing
 What is the author’s point of view
 How do the characters points of view differ
© 2012 Teachers For Teachers. All rights reserved.
4
Unit of Study: Sensory Images
Sample Anchor Lessons
For Strategies, Literary
Elements, Crafts and
Devices
What is Sensory Images? Why do readers create sensory
images?
1. What is creating sensory images?
2. Creating sensory images helps you love
reading
3. Creating sensory images keeps you engaged
as a reader
4. How is creating sensory images like an
inference?
5. Sensory images are more than what we
see.—they are also what we hear, smell, feel
and taste
6. Sensory images can be used to understand a
variety of genres (poetry)
7 Sensory images can be used to understand a
variety of genres (information)
How do readers use sensory images to understand text?
8. Sensory images change as you read through a piece of
text
9. Sensory images are used to retell a text
10. Sensory images are used to form unique
interpretations of the text
11. Sensory images are used to draw conclusions
and understand the story better
12. Sensory images help the reader understand
who is speaking in non-referenced dialogue
13. Sensory images are influenced by shared
images of others
14. Readers use creating images in combination
with other reading strategies.
15. How do readers record their sensory
images?
© 2012 Teachers For Teachers. All rights reserved.
5
Unit of Study: Sensory Images
Anchor Charts
GENERAL ANCHOR CHARTS FOR SENSORY IMAGES
 What is a sensory image?
 How is a sensory image an inference?
 What is evidence?
 Different ways readers create sensory images
 How does creating sensory images help us as
readers?
 How do readers talk about sensory images?
WAYS TO USE SENSORY IMAGES TO COMPREHEND
 How do sensory images help readers engage in a
text?
 How do sensory images help readers retell a text?
 How do sensory images help readers infer?
CREATING SENSORY IMAGES ABOUT CHARACTERS
 Creating sensory images about characters – how do
they look, sound, feel?
 How readers use sensory images to understand
characters’ motivations, responses and points of
view?
 Sensory images help the reader understand
who is speaking in non-referenced dialogue
CREATING SENSORY IMAGES ABOUT SETTING
 Creating sensory images about setting – how does it
look, sound, feel, smell?
 How readers use sensory images to understand the
setting and how it impacts the story?
CREATING SENSORY IMAGES TO HELP UNDERSTAND
THEME
 How readers use sensory images to form unique
interpretations of the text
 How readers use sensory images to draw conclusions
and understand the story better
USING SENSORY IMAGES TO THINK ABOUT AN
AUTHOR/GENRE/TOPIC
 How do we create sensory images when we read
different genres?
 Noticing word choice and how these decisions impact
our images as readers.
© 2012 Teachers For Teachers. All rights reserved.
6
Unit of Study: Sensory Images
Ways to Record Thinking
Graphic Organizers, Post-its,
Journals
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© 2012 Teachers For Teachers. All rights reserved.
Post-its
Graphic organizers
Writing
Drawing
Stop and Jot
Turn and Talk
Two or Three Column Charts
7
Unit of Study: Sensory Images
On-Demand Prompts
(Pre, During and Post)
WHAT IS A SENSORY IMAGE?
 What is a sensory image and how does it help you as a
reader?
 What is an inference and how does it help you as a
reader?
WAYS WE USE SENSORY IMAGES TO COMPREHEND
 Tell/write/draw the images are in your head. What
words helped you create that image? How does this
help you understand the text?
 How does creating sensory images help you retell
your book?
WAYS WE USE SENSORY IMAGES TO UNDERSTAND
CHARACTERS
 What words helped you feel what the character was
feeling?
 How did your sensory images help you understand the
character motivations, responses, actions and point
of view?
 How have your sensory images help you understand
the characters in your text?
WAYS WE USE SENSORY IMAGES TO UNDERSTAND
SETTING
 Write, draw or describe orally the sensory images
you created about the setting – how does it look,
sound, feel, smell?
 How have your sensory images helped you to picture
and understand the setting and how it impacts the
story?
WAYS WE USE SENSORY IMAGES TO HELP
UNDERSTAND THEME
 Write, draw or describe orally the big ideas or
themes of this text. How did your sensory images
help you think about the theme or big idea?
USING SENSORY IMAGES TO THINK ABOUT AN
AUTHOR/GENRE/TOPIC
 How do you use sensory images to understand
different genres?
 How does the author’s word choice help you create
sensory images? Please provide a few examples.
© 2012 Teachers For Teachers. All rights reserved.
8
Unit of Study: Sensory Images
Evidence of Understanding
and Independence
(Oral and written)
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© 2012 Teachers For Teachers. All rights reserved.
Turn and talk conversations
Oral retellings with partners
Oral book talks
Written retellings
Constructed responses
Post-its
Graphic organizers
Drawing
Stop and Jot
Pre and post on-demand assessments
Conference notes
Responses to Literature –Essays, Blog Posts,
Presentations, Discussions
9
Unit of Study: Sensory Images
P – With Prompting and Support
I – Independent Application
Concepts to Teach
K – 2 Common Core
3 – 5 Common Core
Standards
Standards
1. What is creating sensory
images?
2. Creating sensory images helps
you love reading
3. Creating sensory images keeps
you engaged as a reader
4. How is creating sensory images
like an inference?
5. Sensory images are more than
what we see – they are also
what we hear, smell, feel and
taste
6. Sensory images can be used to
understand a variety of genres
(poetry)
7. Sensory images can be used to
understand a variety of genres
(information)
8. Sensory images change as you
read through a piece of text
9. Sensory images are used to
retell a text
10.Sensory images are used to
form unique interpretations of the
text
K
S – Secure Application
1
2
3
4
5
N/A
N/A
P
I
I
S
S
S
N/A
N/A
P
I
I
S
S
S
RL 1-10
RI 1-10
RL 2,3,6,7,8,9,10
RL 1-10
RI 1-10
RL 1,2,3,4,6,7,8,9,10
P
I
I
S
S
S
P
I
I
S
S
S
RL 2,3,6,7,8,9,10
RL 1,2,3,4,6,7,8,9,10
P
I
I
S
S
S
RL 5
RL 5
P
I
I
S
S
S
RL 4, 5
RI Standards
RI Standards
P
P
I
I
S
S
RL 7
RL 7
P
I
I
S
S
S
RL 1, 2, 3, 7, 10
SL 2
RL 2,3,6,7,8,9,10
RL 1, 2, 3, 10
SL 2
RL 1,2,3,4,6,7,8,9,10
P
I
I
S
S
S
P
I
I
S
S
S
© 2012 Teachers For Teachers. All rights reserved.
10
Unit of Study: Sensory Images
P – With Prompting and Support
I – Independent Application
Concepts to Teach
K – 2 Common Core
3 – 5 Common Core
Standards
Standards
11.Sensory images are used to
draw conclusions and understand
the story better.
12.Sensory images help the reader
understand who is speaking in nonreferenced dialogue
13.Sensory images are influenced
by shared images of others
14.Readers use creating images in
combination with other reading
strategies
15.How do readers record their
sensory images?
K
S – Secure Application
1
2
3
4
5
RL 2,3,6,7,8,9,10
RL 1,2,3,4,6,7,8,9,10
P
I
I
S
S
S
RL 6
RL 6
P
I
I
I
S
S
RL 10
SL 1,2,3,6
RL 1-9
RI 1-9
RL 10
SL 1,2,3,4,6
RL 1-9
RI 1-9
P
I
I
S
S
S
P
P
I
S
S
S
WS 1,8
WS 1,8,9
P
P
I
I
S
S
© 2012 Teachers For Teachers. All rights reserved.
11
Unit of Study: Sensory Images
Recommended Model Texts for Sensory Images
Title
Author
Notes
All the Places to Love
Patricia Maclachlan
All the Small Poems
Valerie Worth
Poetry
Color Me A Rhyme
Jane Yolen
Poetry
Creatures of Earth, Sea and
Sky
Fireflies
Georgia Heard
Poetry
Good Dog Carl
Alexandra Day
Grandpa’s Face
Eloise Greenfield
Hello Ocean
Pam Munoz Ryan
Honey I Love
Eloise Greenfield
Hurricane
Jonathan London
I’m in Charge of Celebrations
Byrd Baylor
Owl Moon
Jane Yolen
The Napping House
Audrey Wood
Night in the Country
Cynthia Rylant
Pocket Poems
Bobbi Katz
The Quiet Book
Deborah Underwood
The Raft
Jim Lamarche
Roller Coaster
Marla Frazee
Julie Brinkloe
(Many of thee authors have
written several texts that will
work well for this unit of study)
poetry
poetry
Anne Mazer
The Salamander Room
Seven Blind Mice
Ed Young
The Storm Book
Charlotte Zolotow
Smokey Night
Eve Bunting
Soft House
Jane Yolen
Wilfred Gordon McDonald
Partridge
Mem Fox
© 2012 Teachers For Teachers. All rights reserved.
12
Unit of Study: Sensory Images
Anchor Lesson: 1
Pre-assessment
Select the Materials
Name the Strategy
Explain
“I have noticed that …”
“A strategy readers use is
…”
Introduce the Text
Demonstrate the
Strategy
Say: Think aloud.
Show: Model.
Explain: How this will help
them as a reader.
What is creating sensory images?
Turn and talk to your partner about your
five senses. Tell about a time you were able
to see, hear or feel something from the
words in a book while you were reading.
Owl Moon, Jane Yolen.
Notes to Build Next
Lesson
Creating sensory images is a strategy
readers use to think more deeply about a
text. When a reader combines their schema
and the information in the text to create an
image in their mind. This image can
represent all the five senses – seeing,
smelling, tasting, hearing, touching or
feeling. When readers make sensory images
as they read it helps them not only
understand the story and enjoy the story
more. A reader feels as if they are right
there with the character watching, listening
and feeling everything the characters are
going through.
Watch me. I am going to read a piece of
this story and then tell you the senses I am
experiencing in my mind. I am going to
create a sensory image as I read.
Read the first page and think aloud.
I can see in my mind the forest at night. I
can feel just how still the air is. I don’t
hear any animal scurrying or the trees
swaying in the wind. I only hear their
footsteps crunching in the snow.
The words in the text that help me create
this image in my mind are: “There was no
wind. The trees stood still as giant statues.”
Repeat this process for the next several
paragraphs.
© 2012 Teachers For Teachers. All rights reserved.
13
Unit of Study: Sensory Images
When readers create sensory images in
their minds it helps them to understand the
text. Our images make us feel as if we are
right there in the book standing next to the
characters.
Provide Guided
Practice
Invite the students to
practice the strategy with
teacher guidance.
Provide Independent
Practice
Remind students before
they go off to read …
We will continue to think about this strategy
for the next few weeks. When we use this
strategy we will talk about it by using these
words:
I see…
The words in the text that help me create
an image are…
I can picture…
When I read that, I felt…
Add to the classroom anchor chart:
Ways to Talk about our Sensory Images
Today, when you go off to RW, think about
any images you are creating in your mind.
We will continue to use this strategy for
several weeks.
“When you go to RW try
…”
Conference Points
Share/Reinforce
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Tell me what images are in your head.
What words helped you create that
image?
Ask one student to share an excerpt from
their independent reading book and a
sensory image that s/he made.
© 2012 Teachers For Teachers. All rights reserved.
14
Unit of Study: Sensory Images
Anchor Lesson: 2
Creating sensory images helps you
love reading
Pre-assessment
Turn and talk to your partner about a time
that you couldn’t put a book down because you
enjoyed it so much.
Select the Materials
Wilfred Gordon McDonald Partridge, Mem Fox
Name the Strategy
Explain
Readers, have you ever had an experience as
you have been reading that you feel as if you
are actually in the text with the characters?
Have you ever stayed up late reading because
you couldn’t put your book down? You make
sensory images- when you cry, laugh, or feel
afraid while you are reading. When this
happens it means that you are a lover of
reading! When you feel something for the
character and feel nervous just like them, or
excited just like them, you are creating
sensory images. Creating sensory images in
our minds is what we do that makes us love to
read. Our sensory images help us feel as if we
are right there in the book standing next to
our characters.
“I have noticed that …”
“A strategy readers use is
…”
Introduce the Text
Notes to Build Next
Lesson
Watch me as I read Wilfred Gordon McDonald
Partridge by Mem Fox
Demonstrate the
Strategy
Say: Think Aloud.
Show: Model.
Explain: How this will help
them as a reader.
Read aloud and stop and share your sensory
images - What you see, hear, and feel in your
mind.
As Miss Nancy starts to remember her life
when Wilfred gives her different objects, talk
to the class about how Wilfred is helping Miss
Nancy remember and create sensory images in
her own mind. Point to the picture of Miss
Nancy on the beach.
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15
Unit of Study: Sensory Images
Right here readers. I can see the smile on
Miss Nancy’s face as she thinks back to being
on the beach. I can feel the warmth of the
sand on her toes. I can also see the smile on
Wilfred’s face as he watches Miss Nancy
remember. I can feel his excitement.
Read a few more pages.
After you read, “she bounced the football to
Wilfred Gordon and remembered the day she
had met him and all the secrets they had
told.”
Share your images with the students.
When I read this, I can feel how happy and
proud Wilfred feels. He now knows that Miss
Nancy is remembering her life and she is even
remembering who he is. Wilfred’s idea is
working and Miss Nancy is now remembering
their friendship.
Begin the Classroom Anchor Chart: Why Do
Readers Create Sensory Images?
Provide Guided
Practice
Invite the students to
practice the strategy with
teacher guidance.
Read the next page and ask the students to
turn and talk about the sensory images they
are creating in their minds:
 What do you see?
 How are the characters feeling?
 What are the expressions on their faces?
 What in the text makes you think that?
© 2012 Teachers For Teachers. All rights reserved.
16
Unit of Study: Sensory Images
Provide Independent
Practice
Remind students before
they go off to read…
“When you go to RW try…”
Do you see how as we read this book, we just
couldn’t stop talking about it. We were
worried about whether or not Wilfred’s plan
would work. We were excited when Miss
Nancy started to remember. We were sad
when Miss Nancy remembered her brother
who died in the war but happy at the same
time that she actually remembered her own
brother. This is reading and our sensory
images help us feel like we are a part of the
book. We are actually standing next to our
characters experiencing everything they
experience.
Remember when you are reading, take time to
create the sensory images in your mind so that
you can see, hear and feel everything your
characters are experiencing. I can’t wait to
hear all about the images you are creating in
your minds
Conference Points
Share/Reinforce
Tell me about the sensory images you are
creating in your mind?
 Take me to a place in the text where your
sensory images are most vivid.
 Do you have any books that you have
trouble putting down? Which ones?
 Which characters do you feel connected
to? Tell me about your sensory images of
that character.
Have a few students talk about the sensory
images they experienced while reading.
Which parts of the text were most vivid?
Which sensory images made them feel as if
they were right there with the characters?
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© 2012 Teachers For Teachers. All rights reserved.
17
Unit of Study: Sensory Images
Anchor Lesson:3
Creating sensory images keeps you
engaged as a reader
Pre-assessment
How can creating sensory images keep you
reading? Turn and talk to your partner.
The Raft, Jim Lamarche
Select the Materials
Name the Strategy
Explain
“I have noticed that…”
“A strategy readers use
is…”
Introduce the Text
Notes to Build Next
Lesson
We have been learning how readers create
sensory images as they read so that they
can think deeply about a text. When
readers combine their schema and the
information in the text to create an image in
their mind, this image can represent all our
senses - seeing, smelling, tasting, hearing,
touching and/or feeling. When readers
make sensory images as they read, it helps
them not only understand the story but feel
as if they are right there with the
characters - watching, listening and feeling
everything the characters are going
through.
As readers, we all get distracted sometimes.
We may be reading the words but our mind
is not always paying attention to what we
are reading. We know when we are not
paying attention because our mind stops
creating sensory images about the text.
When this happens, we stop and reread. As
we reread we create sensory images in our
minds so that we understand everything
that is happening in our story and we can
feel everything our characters are feeling.
Add to the Anchor Chart, Why Do Readers
Create Sensory Images?
Demonstrate the
Strategy
Say: Think Aloud.
Show: Model.
Explain: How this will help
them as a reader
As I begin reading, watch as I catch myself
when my mind stops creating sensory
images.
Read the first page or two and share your
sensory images. Now read another page and
share with the students that you are having
trouble creating sensory images because you
got distracted.
© 2012 Teachers For Teachers. All rights reserved.
This lesson can also be
taught using
informational text.
Discuss how when you
are learning something
new, you may not
understand the
concept so you can’t
make an image.
Creating sensory
18
Unit of Study: Sensory Images
Readers, right here on page 6, after I read
about the chores the boy had to do, my mind
started wandering. I was thinking about all
of the chores I need to do at home. As I
read this paragraph my mind stopped
creating sensory images. Now, the last
thing I can picture is the grandmother
carving the wooden bear but I cannot
picture the boy doing chores. I am going to
reread this paragraph again so I can create
sensory images.
images helps us to truly
understand what we
are reading.
Share a few of your sensory images with the
students.
Did you notice how creating sensory images
helped me?
Provide Guided
Practice
Invite the students to
practice the strategy with
teacher guidance.
Read a bit more of the book, stopping to
make sensory images about Nicky and the
way he is feeling (he mumbles, is amazed
that grandma sees him do things when he
doesn’t think she is looking, and as he goes
fishing for the first time and gets skunked,
he says, “There’s no fish in this stupid
river,” I said out loud, disgusted.”
Ask the students to turn and talk about
each part of the text that helps them stay
engaged by creating sensory images about
how he is feeling.
Now ask the students to think about
something else as you read the next page.
Have them turn to their partner and explain
what to do when your mind stops making
sensory images. Reread the page and
continue encouraging students to create
sensory images.
© 2012 Teachers For Teachers. All rights reserved.
19
Unit of Study: Sensory Images
Provide Independent
Practice
Remind students before
they go off to read…
“When you go to RW try…”
Conference Points
Have students continue to read books in
their own book bags.
Please pay attention to when your mind
stops creating sensory images. When you
notice that you aren’t creating images in
your mind, remember to stop, reread and
create those images so that you understand
the text.
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Share/Reinforce
Tell me about the sensory images you
are creating in your mind.
Is there a place where you got
distracted while reading? What did you
do when you got distracted?
What sensory images have you created
about the character in your story?
Have a couple of students share their
thoughts about the engagement they feel
towards their characters. What sensory
image do they have of their character and
how does that sensory image help them to
stay engaged when reading?
© 2012 Teachers For Teachers. All rights reserved.
20
Unit of Study: Sensory Images
Anchor Lesson: 4
How is creating sensory images
like an inference?
Pre-assessment
Turn and talk to your partner about how
you use your schema when creating sensory
images.
Owl Moon Jane Yolen
Select the Materials
Name the Strategy
Explain
“I have noticed that …”
“A strategy readers use is
…”
Introduce the Text
Notes to Build Next
Lesson
Creating sensory images is a strategy
readers use to think deeply about a text
and get immersed in a text. This image can
represent all our senses – seeing, smelling,
tasting, hearing, touching and/or feeling.
When readers combine their schema and
the information in the text to create an
image in their mind this is also called an
inference. An inference is something that
is probably true. The author or illustrator
doesn’t directly tell us everything in a
story, but sometimes they give us clues to
help us think about things that are
probably true. When we create a sensory
image we are inferring. The author doesn’t
tell us exactly what the character is
thinking and feeling but we can infer this
by paying attention to the images we
create.
Show the students the Venn diagram that
illustrates inference as the intersection of
meaning.
© 2012 Teachers For Teachers. All rights reserved.
21
Unit of Study: Sensory Images
Demonstrate the
Strategy
Say: Think aloud.
Show: Model.
Explain: How this will help
them as a reader.
Watch me. I am going to read a piece of
this text and then tell you about the
sensory images I am creating. I am going
to create a sensory image as I read.
This is a create place to
act out the character’s
facial expressions and
emotions.
Read the text and stop to think aloud.
Right here where it says, “I had been
waiting to go owling with Pa for a long, long
time.”
I can feel this child’s excitement. The text
doesn’t say s/he is excited but I can infer
that the character is excited because of
the images I see in my mind. I see the
child’s face. S/he is trying to be quiet
while also smiling.
Point to the Venn diagram as you share your
images. Show them how the words in the
text and your schema helps you to make
inferences.
Repeat this process for the next several
paragraphs and use the Venn diagram to
explain your thinking.
When we create sensory images in our
minds we are inferring. Our images help us
think deeply about the text and understand
ideas that are not explicitly stated but are
probably true.
Provide Guided
Practice
Invite the students to
practice the strategy with
teacher guidance.
Turn and Talk. What did you notice about
the sensory image I made?
Continue reading. Stop periodically and ask
students to share the images they created
in their minds. Students should also share
the words in the text and their schema
that helped them create their images.
Point to the different circles on the Venn
diagram as students share.
© 2012 Teachers For Teachers. All rights reserved.
22
Unit of Study: Sensory Images
Provide Independent
Practice
Invite students to post-it places in the
text where their sensory images were very
vivid.
Remind students before
they go off to read …
“When you go to RW try
…”
Conference Points




Share/Reinforce
Tell me one of the sensory images in
your head.
What words helped you create that
image?
What in your schema helped you to
create that image?
What is probably true about your
character? How is s/he feeling? How
do you know?
Ask one student to share an excerpt from
his book and explain sensory image that he
made. Encourage the student to use the
Venn diagram to also share the words in the
text and his schema that helped him create
this image.
© 2012 Teachers For Teachers. All rights reserved.
23
Unit of Study: Sensory Images
Name______________________________________________ Date ____________________
Title_______________________________________________
An Inference is the Intersection of Meaning
Evidence
Clues from
the Text
© 2012 Teachers For Teachers. All rights reserved.
Schema
Background
Knowledge
Inference
24
Unit of Study: Sensory Images
Anchor Lesson: 5
Sensory images are more than
what we see – they are also what
we hear, smell, feel and taste.
Pre-assessment
Turn and talk to your partner about your
five senses.
Owl Moon, Jane Yolen.
Select the Materials
Choose a text that
supports the strategy.
Other suggested materials include:
 The Napping House, Audrey Wood
 Skunk, Valerie Worth

Raw Carrots, Valerie Worth

What is Gold?, Mary O’Neill

Popsicle, Joan Bransfield Graham
Name the Strategy
Explain
Creating sensory images is a strategy
readers use to think deeply about a text. It
is when a reader combines their schema and
the information in the text to create an
image in his mind. This image can represent
the five senses. We have been talking about
how we create pictures in our mind. We can
also create images that we hear, feel, taste
and smell. When readers make sensory
images it puts you right in the text. It is
like you are experiencing it in the moment.
This help you not only understand the text
better, but enjoy the story more.
“I have noticed that …”
“A strategy readers use is
…”
Introduce the Text
Demonstrate the
Strategy
Say: Think aloud.
Show: Model.
Explain: How this will help
them as a reader.
Notes to Build Next
Lesson
Before the lesson, make a T-chart. Label
the chart like the example at the end of this
lesson. Using Owl Moon, read a few pages
aloud looking for examples of sensory
images. Fill out the T-chart as you go.
Examples from Owl Moon:
I see a large white and gray moon in the sky.
The words in the text that helped me create
that image are, “moon so bright the sky
seemed to shine.”
© 2012 Teachers For Teachers. All rights reserved.
25
Unit of Study: Sensory Images
I hear a faint train whistle. The words in
the text that helped me create that image
are, “the train whistle blew a sad song.”
I can taste the wool scarf in my mouth. The
words in the text that helped me create
that image are, “furry scarf over my mouth.”
Do you see how my sensory images help me
to be right in the story with the
characters? I can hear the noises s/he
hears. I can taste what s/he tastes. I can
feel the emotions s/he feels. My sensory
images make the story come alive for me and
I just want to keep reading.
Provide Guided
Practice
Invite the students to
practice the strategy with
teacher guidance.
Provide Independent
Practice
Remind students before
they go off to read …
“When you go to RW try
…”
Conference Points
Partners choose one of the four poems to
read. Have them record their images and
the evidence in the text on a T-chart. Ask
for volunteers to share what they found and
how creating sensory images helped them
stay engaged in the text.
Students may also
record by drawing
their images
With books from their book bags and poetry
books that you make available to them, have
students read independently noticing the
images they are making. Ask the students
to pay attention to not only what they see
but also what they can feel, hear, touch and
taste. Encourage them to record their
thinking on the T-chart.
 Show me an example of a sensory image
from your reading.
 Explain your image to me.
 How does this help you as a reader?
 What do you think the character is
feeling (hearing, touching, seeing, etc.)?
How do you know?
 How are your images making you feel like
you are right inside this text?
Share/Reinforce
Ask the students to share what they
recorded.
Add this strategy to the anchor chart: How
do readers create sensory images?
© 2012 Teachers For Teachers. All rights reserved.
26
Unit of Study: Sensory Images
Name: ________________________________
Readers create images to form unique interpretations, clarify thinking, draw
conclusions and enhance understanding.
Evidence in the Text
© 2012 Teachers For Teachers. All rights reserved.
My Sensory Image – What I See,
Hear and Feel
27
Unit of Study: Sensory Images
Anchor Lesson: 6
Sensory images can be used to
understand a variety of genres
(poetry)
Pre-assessment
Turn and talk to your partner about how you
create sensory images while reading poetry.
Note to Build
Next Lesson
Select the Materials
Sudden Storm, Elizabeth Coatsworth.
Have students make a
sensory image for one
stanza when using a
longer poem (Blocks by
Robert Louis
Stevenson).
Other titles include:
 Fog, Carl Sandburg
Name the Strategy
Explain
I have noticed that …”
“A strategy readers use is
…”
Introduce the Text
Demonstrate the
Strategy
Say: Think aloud.
Show: Model.
Explain: How this will help
them as a reader.
Readers make sensory images with a variety
of genres. When we create sensory images
with poetry it can be a bit different. We
really have to pay close attention to the
poet’s word choice. Poets do not always use
as many words and the words don’t often tell
a story. The words in a poem often give the
reader a message, an image in her mind, or
ask the reader to think about an idea in a
new way. I will use my schema and the
poet’s words to create sensory images as I
read. Watch how my images help me to
understand the poem.
In a moment I am going to read a poem to
you. I will create sensory images in my mind
as I read. I will explain my sensory images
to you by drawing what I see, hear and feel
in my mind and then sharing with you what
words in the poem helped me to draw
particular things.
Read aloud Sudden Storm.
I saw rain coming down very quickly in
sheets washing the streets clean, and
umbrellas popping open. The umbrellas are
all different colors. Since the rain is so
coming down so quickly, everyone is standing
close together and the umbrellas are
actually touching each other
© 2012 Teachers For Teachers. All rights reserved.
28
Unit of Study: Sensory Images
I can see this in my mind because the poet
compares umbrellas to mushrooms and
flowers. I hear the rain hitting the ground
and I feel the air and how moist it is. This
poem helps me think about a rainstorm in a
new way. I smile as I think about flowers
standing close together and how that is the
same as people with umbrellas standing close
together.
Begin Anchor Chart: How Do Readers
Create Sensory Images in Different
Genres?
Provide Guided
Practice
Invite the students to
practice the strategy with
teacher guidance.
Tell students to close their eyes and listen
to you as you read the selected poem. They
will draw a sketch of the sensory image they
created in their mind. Remind them to think
about what sensory images come to mind as
they listen to the words you read.
Pass out poem (Fog by Carl Sandburg) to
class.
Now I want you to try sketching your own
sensory image after you read this poem.
Afterwards, you will turn to your partner
and explain why you drew what you did and
how it helped you understand the poem.
What is the image the poem created in your
mind? How does the poem help you to think
about an idea in a new way?
Provide Independent
Practice
Remind students before
they go off to read
”When you go to RW try…”
Conference Points
Today I would like you to read lots of poems
during reader’s workshop and make sensory
images while reading this genre. Please
think about how creating sensory images
when reading poetry is different from
creating sensory images while reading
fiction.
 What sensory images are you making?
 What words helped you to make that
image?
 What have you learned about creating
sensory images while reading poetry?
 How does creating sensory images help
you to understand the poem?
© 2012 Teachers For Teachers. All rights reserved.
29
Unit of Study: Sensory Images
Share/Reinforce
Ask a few students to share their sketches
and explain how it helps them understand
the meaning of the poem they read.
© 2012 Teachers For Teachers. All rights reserved.
30
Unit of Study: Sensory Images
Sudden Storm
by Elizabeth Coatsworth
The rain comes in sheets
Sweeping the streets,
Here, here, and here,
Umbrellas appear,
Red, blue, yellow, green,
They tilt and they lean
Like mushrooms, like flowers,
That grow when it showers.
Source: Junior Journal, No.5, Learning Media, 1990.
© 2012 Teachers For Teachers. All rights reserved.
31
Unit of Study: Sensory Images
Anchor Lesson: 7
Sensory images can be used to
understand a variety of genres
(information)
Pre-assessment
Turn and talk to your partner about how
you might use sensory images to help you
read informational text.
Select the Materials
Bats, National Geographic Kids, Elizabeth
Name the Strategy
Explain
Readers create images in their mind to help
them understand what they’re reading.
Today we’re going to think about how we
use this strategy differently with
different genres. So far we have talked a
lot about creating images with poetry and
fiction. Today we are going to discuss how
to create sensory images when reading
information text.
“I have noticed that …”
“A strategy readers use is
…”
Introduce the Text
Notes to Build Next
Lesson
Carney
Repeat lessons that are
essential for your
students with each
genre
When I read informational text, I can use
my sensory images to really understand the
new information I am learning. I can read
the words and use my images to understand
new concepts. I can look at the charts,
diagrams and maps and actually see in my
mind how the things that I am learning
about in the text actually work in the real
world.
Demonstrate the
Strategy
Say: Think aloud.
Show: Model.
Explain: How this will help
them as a reader.
Watch me. I’m going to read a page from
this text. I will tell you what images form
in my mind, and tell you how creating these
images in my mind help me understand and
learn the information in the text.
The text says, “In the pitch-black night,
bats can scoop up a tiny insect with ease.
No flashlight required! How do they do it?
They make a sound that travels until it hits
an object. Then, it bounces off the object
and travels back to the bat.
© 2012 Teachers For Teachers. All rights reserved.
32
Unit of Study: Sensory Images
From this echo the bat can tell an object’s
size and how far away it is. This is called
echolocation.
”After I read this page, I create sensory
images in my mind to help me understand
and learn this information. When I read
these sentences, I hear a bat making a
sound. Now I see the “sound” almost
hitting a tiny insect. Then I see the sound
coming back and hitting the bat in the face.
I can see the bat almost smiling as he flies
towards the bug and gobbles it up. My
images helped me really understand the way
echolocation works.
Read another page aloud and vividly
describes what images you see and how
those images help you understand and learn
the information in the text.
Provide Guided
Practice
Invite the students to
practice the strategy with
teacher guidance.
Provide Independent
Practice
Remind students before
they go off to read …
“When you go to RW try
I am going to read some more from this
text. You and your reading partner will sit
next to each other, and when I am finished
you will share your sensory images with
your partner. Remember to discuss how
your images helped you understand and
learn new information. Remember to also
talk about which words in the text helped
you to create your images.
When you have RW today, I will ask you to
think about the sensory images that come
into your mind, and how they are helping
you to understand what you read and learn
new information.
…”
Conference Points



How is creating sensory images when
reading informational text different
than creating sensory images when
reading fiction?
How did your sensory images help you
to understand the text?
How does creating sensory images make
reading fun for you?
© 2012 Teachers For Teachers. All rights reserved.
33
Unit of Study: Sensory Images
Share/Reinforce
Choose two or three students to share
their images and how their images helped
them understand their text. Choose at
least one student who read informational
text. Have this student explain how the
strategy works differently in information
text.
© 2012 Teachers For Teachers. All rights reserved.
34
Unit of Study: Sensory Images
Anchor Lesson: 8
Sensory images change as you read
through a piece of text
Pre-assessment
Turn and talk to your partner about how to
use your schema to create sensory images.
Notes to Build Next
Lesson
Select the Materials
What is Gold?, Mary O’Neill
What is Pink?, Christina G. Rosetti
My Dog, He is an Ugly Dog, Jack Prelutsky
This lesson can be
retaught using a variety
of genres.
Name the Strategy
Explain
We have been learning how readers use
sensory images to put themselves “inside”
the text. Today I want to show you how
your sensory images change as you read a
text. Readers create sensory images in
their heads and these images change as you
read throughout the text – just like in a
movie when the images change on the
screen. When the text continues and you
read more words your images change
because you are getting new ideas to add to
your schema. You may start to visualize the
setting differently or feel differently about
a character. When you think about the text
and change your images as you read you
understand and enjoy the text more.
“I have noticed that …”
“A strategy readers use
is...”
Introduce the Text
Demonstrate the
Strategy
Say: Think aloud.
Show: Model.
Explain: How this will
help them as a reader.
Watch me as I read this poem. Read the
first stanza and describe the image that you
see in your head. Underline the words in the
first stanza that helped you to form that
image and sketch a quick illustration of what
you see.
Now watch how my image changes when I
read the next stanza. Read the second
stanza and describe the image that you see
in your head. Underline the words in the
second stanza that helped you to form that
image and sketch your image. Explain how
the image has changed.
© 2012 Teachers For Teachers. All rights reserved.
This lesson can be
taught using drawing,
acting or writing.
35
Unit of Study: Sensory Images
Provide Guided
Practice
Invite the students to
practice the strategy with
teacher guidance.
Provide Independent
Practice
Remind students before
they go off to read.
Read the next two stanzas to the students
and ask students to talk with their partner
and then sketch what they see. Encourage
students to share how their images changed
between the two stanzas.
Today at RW, I would like you to notice how
your sensory images change as you are
reading. As you read your poem, sketch your
images as they change.
“When you go to RW try…”
Conference Points




Share/Reinforce
Show me how your images changed as
you were reading.
What words in the text helped you to
form that image?
Which part of the text had the most
vivid image for you?
What part of the text was difficult to
see in your mind?
Please share with your turn and talk partner
your illustrations for the text you read
today. How did your images change as you
continued to read?
© 2012 Teachers For Teachers. All rights reserved.
36
Unit of Study: Sensory Images
Name: __________________________________
Evidence
What changes your images?
Images
Now…
Now…
Now…
Now…
© 2012 Teachers For Teachers. All rights reserved.
37
Unit of Study: Sensory Images
Name: ____________________________ Date: __________________
Sensory Images During Poetry
Evidence
Images
After stanza 1
After stanza 2
After stanza 3
After stanza 4
© 2012 Teachers For Teachers. All rights reserved.
38
Unit of Study: Sensory Images
Anchor Lesson: 9
Sensory images are used to retell
a text
Pre-assessment
Turn and talk to your partner. Why do
readers create sensory images?
Fireflies, Judy Brinkloe
Select the Materials
Name the Strategy
Explain
“I have noticed that …”
“A strategy readers use is
…”
Introduce the Text
Demonstrate the
Strategy
Say: Think aloud.
Show: Model.
Explain: How this will help
them as a reader.
When we read we create sensory images.
These images bring us into the text so
that it is like we are actually there in the
moment. When our images bring us into
the text we can hear it, see it, smell it,
taste it and feel it. All of these images
help us remember the important parts of
the story. I have noticed that when I
remember the story using my sensory
images I can retell it more clearly and
completely.
Notes to Build Next
Lesson
Repeat with
informational text
showing students how
sensory images help
readers to remember
and learn new
information.
Sensory images help me remember and
retell the text. I can picture the setting
in my mind as I read. My images help me
think about and remember how the
characters are feeling, what they are
thinking, or what they might do next. My
sensory images also help me to remember
the plot, what is happening in the story,
because I can see, hear and feel in my
mind everything that the characters are
experiencing.
Watch how I do this.
I am going to read a few pages from this
story and then I’ll stop and tell you the
images I am creating.
© 2012 Teachers For Teachers. All rights reserved.
39
Unit of Study: Sensory Images
Read the first three pages and stop.
When I think about this story I’m
picturing the little boy sitting at the
dinner table looking out the window. I can
feel him getting sad because it’s starting
to get dark outside. Then he sees a flicker
of a firefly. Picture the dark sky and
bright light flickering and moving. I can
picture that boy’s excitement seeing that
firefly—I can feel his heart jump when he
sees it. He probably wants to go right
outside, but he has to eat his dinner.
When I create these images in my mind it
is easier for me to tell you what was
happening because I can picture the
setting. I can picture what the character
is doing, saying and feeling. When I
create these images they help me
remember the story and retell it.
Provide Guided
Practice
Invite the students to
practice the strategy with
teacher guidance.
Add to the Anchor Chart, Why Do Readers
Create Sensory Images?
Now I’m going to read a few more pages.
Close your eyes and try to create images
in your mind as I read. Think about your
schema, the memories you have about the
words in the text and how your schema
helps you think about the images in the
text – what do you see happening, what do
you hear, smell, taste and feel. This will
help you get into the text and understand
it better.
Students can also act
out their sensory images
Read the next 2 pages and stop. Invite
individuals to share their sensory images,
how they created them and which words
helped them create the image.
Read 2 more pages and then have partners
turn and talk and share their sensory
images with each other.
Continue with guided practice stopping
periodically throughout the story.
© 2012 Teachers For Teachers. All rights reserved.
40
Unit of Study: Sensory Images
Provide Independent
Practice
Remind students before
they go off to read …
“When you go to RW try
…”
Conference Points
Today when you are reading, practice
stopping and getting into the text by
creating sensory images in your mind. Be
sure to picture the setting, what is
happening in the story and what the
characters look like, say and feel.






Share/Reinforce
What did you see when you read these
words?
What words added details to your
sensory image?
How do these sensory images help you
understand and remember what you
read?
Tell me about the setting of this text.
What do you picture in your mind?
Can you show me with your own face,
exactly how that character feels?
How do you know?
Please retell this text. How are your
sensory images helping you remember?
Invite a student to read aloud a page and
then tell their partners about the setting,
the characters and the plot. What
sensory images did they see, hear and/or
feel as they were reading?
© 2012 Teachers For Teachers. All rights reserved.
41
Unit of Study: Sensory Images
Anchor Lesson: 10
Sensory images are used to form
unique interpretations of the text
Pre-assessment
Turn and talk to your partner about how
your images can be different from someone
else’s.
The Pickity Fence, David McCord.
Select the Materials
Name the Strategy
Explain
“I have noticed that …”
“A strategy readers use is
…”
Introduce the Text
Demonstrate the
Strategy
Say: Think aloud.
Show: Model.
Explain: How this will help
them as a reader.
Notes to Build Next
Lesson
Other titles include:
 Things To Do If You Are In A Subway,
Bobbi Katz
 If You Can Catch a Firefly, Lillian Moore
 Marbles, Valerie Worth
 Whale Chant, Georgia Heard
 Dandelion, Valerie Worth
Readers create sensory images as they
read. When we read the words of a text,
these words remind us of things in our
lives. The memories we have in our schema
push us to remember what we saw, felt, and
heard. Since each person’s schema is
different, the images we create are often
different too. Today we will read some
poems and think about the images we
create. Some of our images may be
different because we all have different
schema.
As I read, listen to the words and watch me
as I create images. I will then reread the
poem and sketch the images I create in my
mind.
I see a white picket fence. I am running
along and dragging a stick along the pickets.
I always think of the sound it makes as you
run along the fence with a stick. (make the
sound)
The words in the text that helped me
create an image in my mind are:
“The pickety fence
The pickety fence
Give it a lick it’s
The pickety fence”
© 2012 Teachers For Teachers. All rights reserved.
42
Unit of Study: Sensory Images
Remind students that the picture they
created in their heads may be different
because their schema is different. (Give an
example).
Repeat this process as you continue to read
the poem.
Readers create their own images in their
minds to help them understand the text.
Today we will choose poems and put our
sensory images on paper using pictures and
words. When we come back to share, we
will compare our images to see how they are
the same and different.
Provide Guided
Practice
Invite the students to
practice the strategy with
teacher guidance
Provide Independent
Practice
Remind students before
they go off to read …
“When you go to RW, try
…”
Conference Points
What did students notice about how I made
an image?
Ask students how their sensory images are
different from mine. Discuss how our
sensory images are different because our
schema is different. Also discuss how our
sensory images are similar because we read
the same text.
Read aloud the selected poems. Provide
students with a packet of all poems and the
handout titled “Recording Sensory Images.”
Tell students to find a quiet spot and
reread their favorite poem. Instruct
students to record their sensory images on
a T-chart.



Share/Reinforce
Students can draw
and/or write to show
their sensory images.
What words from the poem helped you
make the picture?
How did your schema help you create
the picture?
How did your sensory image help you
better understand the poem?
Ask students with the same poem to meet
together and share their pictures.
Ask students to discuss how and why their
illustrations are different. Remind
students that our schema helps us to
create the sensory images in our heads.
© 2012 Teachers For Teachers. All rights reserved.
43
Unit of Study: Sensory Images
Anchor Lesson: 11
Sensory images are used to draw
conclusions and understand the
story better.
Pre-assessment
Turn and talk to a partner about how
creating sensory images help you understand
a text better.
Select the Materials
Spork, Kyo Maclear
.
Name the Strategy
Explain.
Readers create sensory images as they read.
Our images bring us into the text and help
us draw conclusions to understand the text.
When we think about the words an author
wrote, we think about what they mean and
why the author chose those particular
words. Then we form an image in our mind
based on our own schema.
I know the author doesn’t tell me everything
so I have to draw my own conclusions about
why the author made the characters act a
certain way and what the author’s message
is to the reader. As a reader, I use the
pictures and the words to draw conclusions.
When I draw conclusions, I understand the
bigger ideas in the text. This is inferring.
Let me show you. Watch me.
You can also teach this
lesson using poetry and
informational texts, as
well.
“I have noticed that …”
“A strategy readers use is
…”
Introduce the Text
Demonstrate the
Strategy
Say: Think aloud.
Show: Model.
Explain: How this will help
them as a reader.
Notes to Build Next
Lesson
After a few pages, model your thinking as
you draw conclusions about the bigger
meaning of the text. Read up to page 9.
Right here I am thinking that the bigger
idea in this text is that you should be proud
of who you are. Spork is not happy with who
he is so he is pretending to be a spoon. I am
wondering if the author chose a Spork as a
character because they are an uncommon
piece of silverware.
I am wondering if the bigger idea is to
appreciate who you are. The words in the
text that help me to draw these conclusions
are, “It must be easier to be a single thing.”
© 2012 Teachers For Teachers. All rights reserved.
44
Unit of Study: Sensory Images
Continue reading aloud and modeling your
thinking. As I read and create sensory
images, I can picture Spork's face. When
he dresses up as a fork and a spoon, he is
happy at first because he thinks he will fit
in. However, once the other characters see
him, he feels deflated because he knows
that he really doesn’t fit in. I think the
author chose to have Spork have these
different emotions so that the reader
learns the importance of believing in
yourself and being true to
who you are.
Provide Guided
Practice
Invite the students to
practice the strategy with
teacher guidance.
Provide Independent
Practice
Remind students before
they go off to read …
Have the students try it with other picture
books. Ask them to draw conclusions about
why the author made the characters act a
certain way and what the author’s message
is to the reader.
When you go back and read today, remember
to use your sensory images to draw
conclusions to understand what you are
reading and the author’s bigger message.
“When you go to RW try
…”
Conference Points


Share/Reinforce
How do your sensory images help you
to draw conclusions about why the
author made the characters act a
certain way?
What conclusions can you draw about
the author’s message?
Have students share sensory images they
made and how it helped them to draw
conclusions.
© 2012 Teachers For Teachers. All rights reserved.
45
Unit of Study: Sensory Images
Name: ______________________
Date: _____________________
Book: ___________________________________________________
Sensory Image (evidence)
© 2012 Teachers For Teachers. All rights reserved.
Conclusion (inference)
46
Unit of Study: Sensory Images
Anchor Lesson: 12
Sensory images help the reader
understand who is speaking in nonreferenced dialogue
Pre-assessment
Turn and talk to your partner about how
you know who is speaking in a story when
the author use the words, said, asked, etc.
Select the Materials
Pinky and Rex, James Howe and Melissa
Sweet
Name the Strategy
Explain
We have been learning how readers use
sensory images to understand what they
read. Today I want to show you how to use
your sensory images to help you read
dialogue. When there are lots of
characters and they are talking to each
other it is easy to get confused about who
is talking and about the tone of their voice.
When we use sensory images to get into the
text, we can almost see who is talking, hear
how they are saying it and feel the tone
behind those words. When we use sensory
images when we read we can read “as-if” we
were those characters and make the voices
we are hearing as we read sound like those
characters.
“I have noticed that …”
“A strategy readers use is
…”
Introduce the Text
Demonstrate the
Strategy
Say: Think aloud.
Show: Model.
Explain: How this will help
them as a reader.
Watch Me: I am going to read aloud this
section of the Pinky and Rex story that we
read yesterday. In this part of the story,
the author does not always write said, or
asked. S/he leaves that out so we have to
really use our sensory images in order to
understand the story.
Read the text and stop after a few lines
and say, “I see…. He is speaking to
___________ and saying_________.
Notes to Build Next
Lesson
Read aloud this text
prior to beginning this
lesson.
This lesson can also be
taught by using acting
and/or drawing.
Repeat this a few times.
© 2012 Teachers For Teachers. All rights reserved.
47
Unit of Study: Sensory Images
Notice how I used my sensory images to
keep track of who was talking. When I do
this, I really can think about how they were
feeling, and read it as if I am the character
using the tone of voice the author wants me
to use. This helps me enjoy the story so
much more.
Add to the Anchor Chart: Why Readers
Create Sensory Images
Provide Guided
Practice
Invite the students to
practice the strategy with
teacher guidance.
Provide Independent
Practice
Remind students before
they go off to read …
“When you go to RW try
…”
Conference Points
Share/Reinforce
Reread the next page. Ask students to
turn and talk with their partner about what
they see, hear or feel about the character.
How did they know who was speaking?
Encourage students to share their images
and what they think the characters are
saying or feeling.
Today at RW, I would like you to use your
sensory images while you are reading. Pay
attention to when characters are speaking.
How they are saying things? Let us know
how this strategy helped you to keep track
of your characters.
Did you find a place in your story with
dialogue?
 Show me how you read the dialogue.
 Tell me about the sensory images in
your head as you read that section.
 How are your sensory images helping
you to understand that part of your
story?
Please share with your partner a place in
the text where you used your sensory
images to understand the story. I am
hoping that some of you found some
dialogue and can show how you used your
images to understand who was talking and
to read it as if you were the character.

© 2012 Teachers For Teachers. All rights reserved.
48
Unit of Study: Sensory Images
Anchor Lesson: 13
Sensory images are influenced by
shared images of others
Pre-assessment
Turn and talk to your partner about how
your partner can help you make sensory
images.
The Salamander Room, Anne Mazer
Select the Materials
Notes to Build Next
Lesson
Other Recommended Texts:
 Grandpa’s Face, Floyd Cooper
 The Family of Earth, Schim Schimmel
 Keepers of the Earth, Schim Schimmel
Name the Strategy
Explain
“I have noticed that …”
“A strategy readers use is
…”
Introduce the Text
Demonstrate the
Strategy
Say: Think aloud.
Show: Model.
Explain: How this will help
them as a reader.
Creating sensory images is a strategy that
readers use to get into a text and think
deeply about it. We know that our images
are different based on our schema. If I
have different schema for a topic or
concept than you, our images will differ.
When readers talk about a text with other
readers, they share their images and why
they have their images. These
conversations change our schema and then
our images also change. Talking about
texts, our thinking and our images with
other readers, helps us understand and
enjoy the texts we are reading.
Watch me. I’m going to read a page from
this book. I will tell you about the images I
am creating in my mind. As I read on, I
want you to think about what images –
pictures, sounds, smells, textures, feelings,
and tastes form in your mind and why you
formed those images. We want to know
which words in the text activated your
schema and helped you create those
images.
© 2012 Teachers For Teachers. All rights reserved.
49
Unit of Study: Sensory Images
Here we go. Close your eyes and I’ll begin
to read!
“Brian found a salamander in the woods. It
was a little orange salamander that crawled
through the dried leaves of the forest
floor. The salamander was warm and cozy in
the boy’s hand. “I see a little orange
salamander about as big as the palm of my
hand. I can hear it making the leaves rustle
and then the boy picks it up. It is warm in
his hand and I can feel that warm feeling
on my hand. I created all of these images
because of my schema. I know what
salamanders look like. I have seen them
scurrying in the woods and have held them
in my hands, too. The words in the text and
my schema help me to create sensory
images about the salamander and how the
boy feels about it.
Now that I’ve read the first page to you,
and told you what images appeared in my
mind, who would like to share what images
appeared in their mind?
Share your images and ask a student to
share his images. Compares/contrasts the
images, and model how your images have
changed based on the conversation.
Provide Guided
Practice
Invite the students to
practice the strategy with
teacher guidance.
I am going to read some more from this
story. You and your partner will sit next to
each other, and when I am finished you will
share your sensory images with your
partner. Remember to discuss how your
images changed as you shared.
Read the next page, where Brian talks
about the bed he will make for the
salamander. Ask partners to share their
images. Continue reading until you are sure
they are able to create images. Ask the
students to discuss their images with a
partner. Then ask them to talk about how
their images changed after they listened to
their partner.
© 2012 Teachers For Teachers. All rights reserved.
50
Unit of Study: Sensory Images
Provide Independent
Practice
Remind students before
they go off to read …
“When you go to RW try
…”
Conference Points
When you have RW today, I will ask you and
your partner to read this same text. Then
you and your partner will complete the
Sensory Images T-chart. First you will fill
out the My Image half of the paper. Then
you will share your images with your
partner, and then complete the second half
of the T-chart.
Remember, everyone has different
experiences, different schemas, and
different prior knowledge to draw upon and
we can learn from each other.
 How did your sensory images change
after you shared with your partner?
 How did talking with a partner help you
understand the text?
Share/Reinforce
Ask one pair of students to share how their
images changed.
© 2012 Teachers For Teachers. All rights reserved.
51
Unit of Study: Sensory Images
Name:_______________________________________
Date:____________________
Title of Text:____________________________________________________________
Evidence from Text
(words I used)
My image
My partner’s thoughts
My new image
Evidence from Text
(words I used)
My image
My partner’s thoughts
My new image
© 2012 Teachers For Teachers. All rights reserved.
52
Unit of Study: Sensory Images
Anchor Lesson: 14
Readers use creating images in
combination with other reading
strategies.
Pre-assessment
Turn and talk to your partner about all of
the strategies you use as you read.
Select the Materials
Grandpa’s Face, Eloise Greenfield
Name the Strategy
Explain
We have learned so much about creating
sensory images and today I want to teach
you how readers use creating sensory
images with other reading strategies.
When readers read, they are always
combining reading strategies. We use our
schema, create sensory images, infer the
characters feelings, predict what will
happen next, figure out unfamiliar words,
etc.. We do all of these things
simultaneously to help us understand the
text.
“I have noticed that …”
“A strategy readers use is
…”
Introduce the Text
Notes to Build Next
Lesson
We use many strategies all at once,
sometimes without realizing that we are
even doing it.
Demonstrate the
Strategy
Say: Think aloud.
Show: Model.
Explain: How this will help
them as a reader.
I’m going to read this book and show you
how I use more than one strategy to help
me understand the text. (Refer to your
anchor chart of strategies)
Think aloud and share your schema for
this book. When I preview this book, I
think it will be a story about a girl and her
grandpa. It looks like they are having fun.
I’m using my schema to decide what it will
be about.
© 2012 Teachers For Teachers. All rights reserved.
53
Unit of Study: Sensory Images
I’m expecting that it is fiction, so there
will be characters, setting, a problem and
a solution. It’s hard to imagine what the
problem will be when they look so happy.
Read on and pause to share your thinking
when she sees her grandpa’s face looking
so angry. “It was a face that could never
love her or anyone.”
When I read those words I have a sensory
image that reminds me of when _______
was angry. I remember how I felt. I think
I she is very scared. I think she is
wondering why he is so angry.
Provide Guided
Practice
Invite the students to
practice the strategy with
teacher guidance.
Read to the part where Tamika spills her
milk. Invite students to share their
sensory images and to use their schema to
make a prediction of what might happen
next.
You could continue this book for several
days stopping to share your thinking using
a combination of strategies. Invite
students to participate by sharing their
thinking.
Provide Independent
Practice
Remind students before
they go off to read …
“When you go to RW
try …”
Conference Points
Share/Reinforce
When you go off to read remember to try
to combine using sensory images with the
other strategies that we have learned.
You can look at the anchor chart (strategy
bookmark) to help you remember your
strategies.
What words in the text helped you
make that sensory image?
 How did your schema add to the
details of this sensory image?
 Now that you’ve pictured what’s going
on in this book, what predictions do
you have for what will happen next?
 Read a bit and then think aloud. Let
me hear what you are thinking.
Turn and talk with your partner and show
them a couple of places in the text where
you used different reading strategies.

© 2012 Teachers For Teachers. All rights reserved.
54
Unit of Study: Sensory Images
What is Gold?
Gold is a metal
Gold is a ring
Gold is a very
Beautiful thing.
Gold is the sunshine
Light and thin
Warm as a muffin
On your skin.
Gold is the moon
Gold are the stars;
Jupiter, Venus
Saturn and Mars,
Gold is the color of
Clover honey
Gold is a certain
Kind of money.
Gold is alive
In a flickering fish
That lives its life
In a crystal dish.
Gold is the answer
To many a wish.
Gold is the feeling
Like a king
It’s like having the most
Of everything –
Long time ago
I was told
Yellow’s mother’s name
Is gold …
Mary O’Neill
© 2012 Teachers For Teachers. All rights reserved.
55
Unit of Study: Sensory Images
Sudden Storm
by Elizabeth Coatsworth
The rain comes in sheets
Sweeping the streets,
Here, here, and here,
Umbrellas appear,
Red, blue, yellow, green,
They tilt and they lean
Like mushrooms, like flowers,
That grow when it showers.
Source: Junior Journal, No.5, Learning Media, 1990.
© 2012 Teachers For Teachers. All rights reserved.
56
Unit of Study: Sensory Images
What Is Pink?
What is pink? A rose is pink
By a fountain’s brink.
What is red? A poppy’s read
In its barley bed.
What is blue? The sky is blue
Where the clouds float thro’.
What is white? A swan is white
Sailing in the light.
What is yellow? Pears are yellow,
Rich and ripe and mellow.
What is green? The grass is green,
With small flowers between.
What is violet? Clouds are violet
In the summer twilight.
What is orange? Why, an orange,
Just an orange!
Christina G. Rosetti
© 2012 Teachers For Teachers. All rights reserved.
57
Unit of Study: Sensory Images
Riding on the Train
I see
Fences and fields
Bams and bridges
Stations and stores
Trees
Other trains
Horses and hills
Water tanks
Towers
Streams
Old cars
Old men
Roofs
Raindrops crawling backwards on the window
Eloise Greenfield
© 2012 Teachers For Teachers. All rights reserved.
58
Unit of Study: Sensory Images
Poem
I loved my friend.
He went away from me.
There’s nothing more to say.
The poem ends,
Soft as it began –
I loved my friend.
© 2012 Teachers For Teachers. All rights reserved.
59
Unit of Study: Sensory Images
April Rain Song
Let the rain kiss you.
Let the rain beat upon your head with silver liquid drops.
Let the rain sing you a lullaby.
The rain makes still pools on the sidewalk.
The rain makes running pools in the gutter.
The rain plays a little sleep-song on our roof at night.
And I love the rain.
Langston Hughes
© 2012 Teachers For Teachers. All rights reserved.
60
Unit of Study: Sensory Images
Things To Do If You Are In a Subway
Pretend you are a dragon,
Live in underground caves.
Roar about underneath the city.
Swallow piles of people.
Spit them out at the next station.
Zoom through the darkness.
Go fast.
Make as much noise as you please.
Bobbi Katz
© 2012 Teachers For Teachers. All rights reserved.
61
Unit of Study: Sensory Images
Sound of Water
The sound of water is
Rain,
Lap,
Fold,
Slap,
Gurgle,
Splash,
Churn,
Crash,
Murmur,
Pour,
Ripple,
Roar,
Plunge,
Drip,
Spout,
Skip,
Sprinkle,
Flow,
Ice,
Snow.
Mary O’Neill
© 2012 Teachers For Teachers. All rights reserved.
62
Unit of Study: Sensory Images
Mama
Mama was funny
was full of jokes
was pretty
dark brown-skinned
laughter
was hard hugs
and kisses
a mad mama
sometimes
but always
always
was love
Eloise Greenfield
© 2012 Teachers For Teachers. All rights reserved.
63
Unit of Study: Sensory Images
Rain Poem
The rain was like a little mouse,
Quiet, small and gray.
It pattered all around the house
And then it went away.
It did not come, I understand,
Indoors at all, until
It found an open window and
Left tracks across the sill.
Elizabeth Coatsworth
© 2012 Teachers For Teachers. All rights reserved.
64
Unit of Study: Sensory Images
Two Friends
Lydia and Shirley have
two pierced ears and
two bare ones
five pigtails
two pairs of sneakers
two berets
two smiles
one necklace
one bracelet
lots of stripes and
one good friendship
Nikki Giovanni
© 2012 Teachers For Teachers. All rights reserved.
65
Unit of Study: Sensory Images
My Dog, He is an Ugly Dog
By Jack Prelutsky
My dog, he is an ugly dog,
He’s put together wrong
His legs are much too short for him,
His ears are much too long.
My dog, he is a scruffy dog,
He’s missing clumps of hair,
His face is quite ridiculous,
His tail is scarcely there.
My dog, he is a dingy dog,
His fur is full of fleas,
He sometimes smells like dirty socks,
He sometimes smells like cheese.
My dog, he is a noisy dog,
He’s hardly ever still,
He barks at almost anything,
His voice is loud and shrill.
My dog, he is a stupid dog,
His mind is slow and thick,
He’s never learned to catch a ball,
He cannot fetch a stick.
My dog, he is a greedy dog,
He eats enough for three,
His belly bulges to the ground,
He is the dog for me.
© 2012 Teachers For Teachers. All rights reserved.
66
Unit of Study: Sensory Images
marbles
Marbles picked up
Heavy by the handful
And held, weighted,
Hard, glossy,
Glassy, cold,
Then poured clicking,
Water-smooth, back
To their bag, seem
Treasure: round jewels,
Slithering gold.
Valerie Worth
© 2012 Teachers For Teachers. All rights reserved.
67
Unit of Study: Sensory Images
Whale Chant
I see a
Blue whale,
Fin whale,
Humpback,
Gray,
Little piked,
Right whale,
Bottlenose,
Sei,
Killer whale,
Pilot,
Sperm, and narwhale
Swimming
In the deep
Blue
Sea!
Georgia Heard
© 2012 Teachers For Teachers. All rights reserved.
68
Unit of Study: Sensory Images
Rain
Summer rain
is soft and cool,
so I go barefoot
in a pool.
But winter rain
is cold, and pours,
so I must watch it
from indoors.
Myra Cohn Livingston
© 2012 Teachers For Teachers. All rights reserved.
69
Unit of Study: Sensory Images
dandelion
Out of
Green space,
A sun:
Bright for
A day, burning
A way to
A husk, a
Cratered moon:
Burst
In a week
To dust:
Seeding
The Infinite
Lawn with
Its starry
Smithereens.
Valerie Worth
© 2012 Teachers For Teachers. All rights reserved.
70
Unit of Study: Sensory Images
Barefoot Days
In the morning, very early,
That’s the time I love to go
Barefoot where the fern grows curly
And grass is cool between each toe,
On a summer morning-O!
On a summer morning!
That is when the birds go by
Up the sunny slopes of air,
And each rose ahs a butterfly
Or a golden bee to wear;
And I am glad in every towSuch a summer morning-O!
Such a summer morning!
Rachel Field
© 2012 Teachers For Teachers. All rights reserved.
71
Unit of Study: Sensory Images
Weather
Weather is full
of the nicest sounds:
it sings
and rustles
and pings
and pounds
and hums
and tinkles
and strums
and twangs
and whishes
and splashes
and bangs
and mumbles
and grumbles
and rumbles
and flashes
and CRASHES.
Aileen Fisher
© 2012 Teachers For Teachers. All rights reserved.
72
Unit of Study: Sensory Images
Fog
The fog comes
on little cat feet.
It sits looking
over harbor and city
on silent haunches
and then moves on.
Carl Sandburg
© 2012 Teachers For Teachers. All rights reserved.
73
Unit of Study: Sensory Images
What is Brown?
Brown is the color of a country road
Back of a turtle
Back of a toad.
Brown is cinnamon
And morning toast
And the good smell of
The Sunday roast.
Brown is the color of work
And the sound of a river,
Brown is bronze and a bow
And a quiver.
Brown is the house
On the edge of town
Where wind is tearing
The shingles down.
Brown is a freckle
Brown is a mole
Brown is the earth
When you dig a hole.
Brown is the hair
On many a head
Brown is chocolate
And gingerbread.
Brown is a feeling
You get inside
When wondering makes
Your mind grow wide.
Brown is a leather show
And a good glove –
Brown is as comfortable
As love.
Mary O’Neill
© 2012 Teachers For Teachers. All rights reserved.
74
Unit of Study: Sensory Images
Ron
His name is Ron
and he’s a good dog.
When I call, he’s there.
Goes everywhere I do, only farther,
Does everything I do, only rougher.
When I growl, he growls tougher.
When I’m sad, he puts his nose
close to my face and just waits.
Ron makes a good pillow:
his fur is plush, like a bear’s.
And he doesn’t eat much.
Sometimes he licks me.
Ron likes me, but I don’t own him.
He comes and goes, like steam.
Never musses my bed, where he sleeps
At night, because he’s made up
of light things –
like air, like dreams.
© 2012 Teachers For Teachers. All rights reserved.
75
Unit of Study: Sensory Images
This is Just to Say
I have eaten
the plums
that were in the icebox
and which
you were probably
saving
for breakfast
Forgive me
they were delicious
so sweet
and so cold.
William Carlos Williams
© 2012 Teachers For Teachers. All rights reserved.
76
Unit of Study: Sensory Images
Coat hangers
Open the closet
And there they
Wait, in a
Trim obedient row;
Stirred by the
Air, they only
Touch wires with
A vacant jangle;
But try to
Remove just one,
And they suddenly
Clash and clink,
And fling them –
Selves to the
Floor in an
Inextricable tangle.
Valerie Worth
© 2012 Teachers For Teachers. All rights reserved.
77
Unit of Study: Sensory Images
The Newt
Orange nose.
Orange toes.
Orange chin.
Orange skin.
Orange tail.
Orange newt.
Orange you cute
In your bright orange suit.
© 2012 Teachers For Teachers. All rights reserved.
78
Unit of Study: Sensory Images
Spring Is
Spring is when
the morning sputters like
bacon
and
your
sneakers
run
down
the
stairs
so fast you can hardly keep up with them,
and
spring is when
your scrambled eggs
jump
off
the
plate
and turn into a million daffodils
trembling in the sunshine.
Bobbi Katz
© 2012 Teachers For Teachers. All rights reserved.
79
Unit of Study: Sensory Images
Name: ________________________________________
Sensory images from: ______________________ by ________________
(title)
My image
© 2012 Teachers For Teachers. All rights reserved.
(author)
My image after having a conversation
with _________________________
80
Unit of Study: Sensory Images
Anchor Lesson: 15
How do readers record their
sensory images?
Pre-assessment
Turn and Talk. What have you learned about
creating sensory images?
Night in the Country, Cynthia Rylant
Select the Materials
Name the Strategy
Explain
“I have noticed that …”
“A strategy readers use is
…”
Introduce the Text
Demonstrate the
Strategy
Say: Think aloud.
Show: Model.
Explain: How this will help
them as a reader.
Creating sensory images is a strategy
readers use to think deeply about a text and
become immersed in the story. These
images can represent all our senses seeing, smelling, tasting, hearing, touching
and/or feeling. These images are our
thinking, and our thinking is important. As
readers we want to record our thinking so
that we can share it with others and
remember our ideas.
Watch me. I am going to read part of this
text and then tell you about the sensory
images I am creating.
Notes to Build Next
Lesson
This lesson can be
repeated with
informational text or
poetry
Sensory images can be
recorded by drawing
and/or writing
Read a few pages of the text. Stop and
share your sensory image with the class.
As I read I have images in my mind. I am
lying in my bed in the middle of the night. I
hear the frogs saying reek, reek, reek and
the owls are hooting. The sounds are
comforting and I feel peaceful.
Now I need to write my thinking down. I
want to write down what I see, hear and feel
and what words in the text helped me to
create those images.
Column 1 – Evidence from the Text
Little houses people lie sleeping.
Night frog – reek,
Owls who swoop among the trees
If you cannot sleep you will hear the sounds
of the night.
© 2012 Teachers For Teachers. All rights reserved.
81
Unit of Study: Sensory Images
Column 2 – My Sensory Images
I am lying in my bed in the middle of the
night. I hear the frogs saying reek, reek,
reek and the owls are hooting. I feel
peaceful.
Provide Guided
Practice
Invite the students to
practice the strategy with
teacher guidance.
Provide Independent
Practice
Remind students before
they go off to read …
“When you go to RW try
…”
Conference Points
After I read a few more pages I will ask you
to stop and jot your sensory images and the
words in the text (evidence) that helped you
create those images.
Read a few more pages and ask students to
stop and jot. Please share what you wrote
down with your partner. How did you record
the words in the text? How did you
write/draw your images?
As you are reading today, please stop and
jot 2 or 3 times to record important sensory
images and the evidence that supports those
images on the 2-column chart (T-chart). If
you don’t have an image, please jot down why
you think you are not creating images as you
read.
 Tell me about your images. How will you
record that information?
 Show me an example of a sensory image
from your reading.
 Explain your image to me.
 How does this help you as a reader?
 What do you think the character is
Share/Reinforce
feeling (hearing, touching, seeing, etc.)?
How do you know?
Ask the students share with their partner
how they recorded their sensory images.
Add this strategy to the anchor chart: How
do readers create sensory images?
© 2012 Teachers For Teachers. All rights reserved.
82
Unit of Study: Sensory Images
End of unit assessment:
Name: _____________________________ Date: ___________________
We just completed our unit on using sensory image while we read:
1. What is a sensory image?
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2. How does making sensory images help you when you read?
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3. Do we all have the same sensory images when we read? Why?
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83