Reading Comprehension

Strategy:
Making Mental Images
Movies should take place in your mind every time you read.
Catherine Wishart
Literacy Coach
Copyright © 2009. All rights reserved.
 Sensory Images
“Sensory images are the cinema unfolding
in your mind that make reading three-
dimensional”
(Zimmerman and Hutchins, 2003).
 What Do You See?
“Plowboy” by Carl Sandburg

After the last red sunset glimmer,
Back on the line of a low hill rise,
Formed into moving shadows, I saw
A plowboy and two horses lined
against the gray,
Plowing in the dusk the last furrow.
The turf had a gleam of brown,
And smell of soil was in the air,
And, cool and moist, a haze of
April.
I shall remember you long,
Plowboy and horses against the sky in
shadow.
I shall remember you and the picture
You made for me,
Turning the turf in the dusk
And haze of an April gloaming.
 The Motion Picture in the
Mind for “Plowboy”
• A plowboy – young man who is strong and dirty
working in a field
• Horses used for plowing – not for riding or
recreation, but for work
• Springtime – early in the season
• Low rising hills – not flatland, not mountains
• Childhood memories of seeing farmers working in
a field
 What Should Be in Your
Movie?
• All of the senses are in play when you watch a
movie:
– You can see what is on the film
– You can hear what is happening
– You can almost taste the food depicted
– You can almost smell the scents in the air
– You can feel the emotions of the characters
• All of these senses should be in your personal
movie when you read.
 What Are Some of Your
Favorite Songs?
• Why do you love these songs?
• What makes them special?
• Do certain emotions come flooding back when
you hear these songs on the radio?
• Do you remember certain events in your life?
• Do you “see” as well as hear the songs?
• You are making a personal movie for these songs.
 Sensory Images Help You
Understand
• Your images and feelings for a particular song are
different from anyone else’s images and feelings
• Your images and feelings for a particular story are
different from anyone else’s images and feelings
• Some of the images and feelings you have for a
particular story are shared with all readers
• The shared images make the story universal; the
individual images makes the story personal
 When Should You Have
Sensory Images?
• Every time you read! My Grocery List
• Every story should • Eggs
cause a motion picture • Bacon
to begin in your mind • Milk
• Every text book should • Butter
cause a motion picture
to begin in your mind • Ham
• Even a grocery list • Rye bread
should begin a motion • Capers
picture in your mind • Chicken
 How Do Sensory Images
Help You Comprehend?
• Sensory images make reading active instead of
passive
• Sensory images help make something you read
concrete in your mind and help to cement it to
your memory
• Sensory images help make your reading three-
dimensional – you can see, hear, feel, smell, and
even touch what the text describes
 When Sensory Images Are
Working
• When you are reading, the motion picture
should be constantly running
• If the motion picture stops, you know that
comprehension has stopped
• If the motion picture is out of focus, you
know that comprehension is only partial
• The motion picture can make the reading
fun
 Have You Ever?
• Read a book and then seen the movie?
• What changes about your understanding of
the book after you see the movie?
• Did the movie do a good job of depicting
what you saw when you read the book?
Why or why not?
• Which mental images were different?
• Which mental images were the same?
 Making Mental Images:
“The Puzzle” by Anonymous
Pugh came into my room holding something wrapped in a piece of brown paper.
“Tress, I have brought you something on which you may exercise your ingenuity.” He began,
exasperating deliberation, to untie the string which bound his parcel; he is one of those persons who
would not cut a knot to save their lives. The process occupied him the better part of a quarter of an
hour. Then he held out the contents of the paper.
“What do you think of that?” he asked. I thought nothing of it, and I told him so. “I was prepared
for that confession. I have noticed, Tress, that you generally do think nothing of an article which
really deserves the attention of a truly thoughtful mind. Possible, as you think so little of it, you will
be able to solve the puzzle.”
I took what he held out to me. It was an oblong box, perhaps seven inches long by three inches
broad.
“Where’s the puzzle?” I asked.
“If you will examine the lid of the box, you will see.” I turned it over and over; it was difficult to
see which was the lid. Then I perceived that on one side were printed these words:
“PUZZLE: TO OPEN THE BOX”
The words were so faintly printed that it was not surprising that I had not noticed them at first.
 What Do You See?
• Reread this portion of “The Puzzle” to
yourself.
• Think about what images you see in your
mind.
• Complete the double-entry journal page
• Be prepared to discuss the images in your
mind and experiences of which this part of
the story reminds you.
 What Can Readers Do When
Their Movies Stop or Get Fuzzy?
• Place checks next to the sections where you see, hear, feel,
touch, or smell so you know where the images stopped.
• Begin to read again where the checkmarks stopped so you
can try to get your camera working again.
• Ask yourself questions:
– What did I see when I read those words?
– Not that I’ve pictured what’s going on in this chapter, what
predictions do I have for what will happen next?
– Have my sensory images changed as I read the story? What words
added detail to my mind picture?
– What words have helped me make sensory images? What words
are confusing that image? Why are they confusing?
Zimmerman and Hutchins, 2003, pp. 39-40.
 If books could have more, give more, be more, show
more, they would still need readers, who bring to them
sound and smell and light and all the rest that can’t be in
books. The book needs you.
- Gary Paulsen

Zimmerman and Hutchins, 2003, p. 35.

 References
• Anonymous. “The Puzzle.”
http://www.classicreader.com/book/1409/1/.
• “Mind Pictures: Strategies That Enhance Mental
Imagery While Reading.”
http://www.readwritethink.org/lessons/lesson_view.asp
?id=792.
• Zimmermann, Susan and Hutchins, Chryse. 7 Keys to
Comprehension. NY: Three Rivers Press, 2003.