Mini-Lesson

Visualizing

Mini-Lesson: Grades 4-6

Objective: Students will practice visualizing as they read a news story.

1. Start a discussion about visualizing. Explain that when reading a story, whether it is fictional or real, it helps to visualize what the author describes. By paying attention to details as you read, it is possible to turn words into pictures in your mind.

2. Tell students that scientists studying life beneath the surface of the sea recently announced thousands of discoveries. Pass out the article Endless Ocean Waters. Demonstrate visualizing while you read by thinking aloud as you sketch the city of brittle stars described in the third sentence in paragraph 3. For example: There are many words in this sentence that can help me to imagine the brittle stars that were discovered off the coast of New Zealand. I will start with the underwater mountain. Even though I have never seen a mountain that is completely underwater, I can imagine how that might look. The author writes that the stars are located specifically on the mountain's peak, not all over the mountain. Also, there are not just a few stars; there are thousands. Since that is such a large quantity, I will picture there being way too many to count....

3. As students read, have them circle other details that help them to visualize the discoveries mentioned in the article. Encourage them to sketch one or more examples.