Rationale:
Once children have learned to read accurately and fluently they transition from "learning to read" to "reading to learn." In order for students to be most successful at extracting messages from a text, they need to be taught comprehension strategies explicitly. One of the most effective reading comprehension strategies is visualization. Visualization is the ability to imagine, picture, or visualize what you are reading in a text. Visualization can also be described as constructing mental movies or graphic representations of the text. Visualization helps students monitor their reading and enables them to better comprehend and retain the text they are reading, as it is normally easier to remember images rather than text words. This lesson will help students learn to visualize what they are reading in their mind, through explicit modeling of this strategy, guided independent practice, and partner practice. We will do this by practicing visualization with a variety of different readings and using pictures to explain the events of the story. They will also be given opportunities to practice visualization by reading a passage of an article and visualizing the text within their imagination.
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Materials:

• Expository text: Satellite Images Hint at Lost Mayan City

• Select passages for practice visualization (teacher reads):

“Recently it was reported that William Gadoury, a teenager from Quebec, Canada, might have discovered an ancient settlement, hidden in the depths of the Mexican jungle. Using maps and charts, William spotted a link between the ancient civilization’s settlements and the stars – they lined up! Checking locations against a map of Maya constellations, he discovered one city was missing from a constellation of three stars.”

AND:

“After studying satellite images from the Canadian Space Agency and Google Earth, he noticed some strange shapes lying beneath the jungle canopy – wow! However, critics are undecided as to whether the teen really has made an ancient discovery. Daniel De Lisle, a scientist from the Canadian Space Agency said: “There are linear features that would suggest there is something underneath that big canopy.”

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• Square sheet of white cardstock, one for each child

• Crayons, markers, colored pencils, etc.

• Vocabulary words are written on board: constellation, ancient,  phenomenon.

• Cards with passage from article on them, one for each child:

“While Dr Armand La Roque from the University of New Brunswick said, “A square is not natural, it is mostly artificial and can hardly be attributed to natural phenomena. “If we add these together, we have a lot of indication there might be a Mayan city in the area.” But not everyone agrees. Geoffrey Braswell, a mesoamerican archaeologist at UC San Diego, said the two rectangular features are probably weed-filled, abandoned fields.” ​​

Procedures:
1. Say, “Today we are going to talk about a strategy to help us comprehend what we are reading. Who remembers what it means to comprehend? [wait for students response] That’s right! It does mean to understand the message of what you are reading. I hope that by the end of this lesson you will all be able to visualize texts very easily. When we visualize something, we use our imaginations to create a picture of what we are reading. Visualization is kind of like making a mental movie of a story we read. We can save those mental pictures and think back to them later so we remember what we read!”
 
2. Say, “Today, we’re going to read an article about an ancient civilization called the Mayans! The Mayans were a great civilization way back in the sixth century but mysteriously abandoned their homes and towns. But first, we’re going to go over a couple vocabulary words so we can better understand our text. [Teacher will go over some vocabulary and provide some examples and non-examples]

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Ancient means very old, aged, of great age. A baby is not ancient, but a mummy definitely is. What is something that is ancient? Have you ever seen something that is truly ancient? Will you help me to complete this sentence? A pyramid is an ancient structure that...

 

A constellation is a group of stars that forms a pattern, and has been named. A single star is not a constellation. The little dipper and big dipper are both constellations. Have any of you ever seen a group of stars that formed a pattern, in the night sky? Do you know any names of constellations? Which constellation is your favorite to find in the night sky? Let me see if you can finish this sentence: People can use constellations to...

 

A phenomenon is something that is impressive or exceptional. Something that you do every day is not a phenomenon, but something like a meteor shower or a volcanic eruption is definitely a phenomenon. Which phenomenon hit Houston and Florida earlier this year and caused a lot of flooding damage? Which phenomenon happens when rocks from outer space streak across the night sky? Let me see if you can help me complete this sentence. After it rained a natural phenomenon...

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4. Say, “Okay, now I’m going to demonstrate how I might visualize this part of the story. Make sure you are listening carefully! [Teacher reads from the first passage, not showing any pictures.] “Recently it was reported that William Gadoury, a teenager from Quebec, Canada, might have discovered an ancient settlement, hidden in the depths of the Mexican jungle. Using maps and charts, William spotted a link between the ancient civilization’s settlements and the stars – they lined up! Checking locations against a map of Maya constellations, he discovered one city was missing from a constellation of three stars.” [Teacher closes eyes for a moment, showing children process of thinking about pictures] I see a young boy in his bedroom in Canada. I see him sitting with maps and charts spread out all over his desk. I see him lining up a map of stars and a map of a Mexican jungle to study the similarities and differences. The two Mayan cities perfectly line up to a constellation of three stars, and I see him smiling and getting really excited! But wait! One city is missing from its’ place in the constellation! [Show face to students; open eyes and continue reading. “After studying satellite images from the Canadian Space Agency and Google Earth, he noticed some strange shapes lying beneath the jungle canopy – wow! However, critics are undecided as to whether the teen really has made an ancient discovery. Daniel De Lisle, a scientist from the Canadian Space Agency said: “There are linear features that would suggest there is something underneath that big canopy.” [close eyes] Now I see several satellite images of earth on William’s desk. I see him leaning in closer with a magnifying glass to get a closer look at these images. William’s eyes are getting wide as he notices some shapes in the image in the middle of the green jungle. Now I see some confused scientists in a lap discussing and debating the potential of this image.”
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5. Say, “Now let’s try a passage together! I want you to close your eyes and visualize what I read. Concentrate on the words and listen to the story to create good mental pictures of what I’m reading. Visualize what I read: “After studying satellite images from the Canadian Space Agency and Google Earth, he noticed some strange shapes lying beneath the jungle canopy – wow! However, critics are undecided as to whether the teen really has made an ancient discovery. Daniel De Lisle, a scientist from the Canadian Space Agency said: “There are linear features that would suggest there is something underneath that big canopy.” Were you able to visualize what I read? Do you think you could draw a picture of what you visualized? I’m going to reread the whole passage so you can visualize the story better! Make sure to listen carefully again! [Read first part of the article over again, slowly and with expression]. Does anyone want to describe what their mental picture is?
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6. Say, “Now you know about the potential Mayan civilization, and we know some vocabulary we might need, so I want you to read and continue to visualize the rest of the story! I’m going to continue to read aloud for you, but I’m not going to show you any pictures. I want you to visualize what I’m reading. If you want to close your eyes, you may, but make sure you’re paying attention and listening very carefully! After finish the whole story, you’re going to get a part of the story to visualize and illustrate so really concentrate on visualization. [Read rest of story without showing pictures, continually reminding and encouraging them to visualize].
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7. Say, “So, we have read the whole story – I know you can put your mental pictures on to paper! I’m going to give you a card that has a passage of the story on it. Read the passage to yourself, visualize what is happening, and then illustrate it on your piece of cardstock. Our vocabulary words are on the board if you need them! On the back of your paper, describe what you drew in your own words. Then, we are going to answer some questions about our story. [After students are finished, let them present their picture to the class and explain it. This will be an assessment of students’ comprehension and visualization skills. Description of illustration, the illustration, and the passage should all connect together and make sense. Students will also go to teacher's desk and answer a couple comprehension questions].
 
Assessment:
The teacher will refer to the students' drawings of. She will use the following rubric to grade students' work. She will grade each drawing according to the rubric which is out of 10 total points:
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_____ Did the student draw a picture? (2)
_____Does the picture relates to the passage? (2)
_____ Does the picture accurately depict what the passage was about? (2)
_____ Did the student include a detailed description? (2)
_____ Do the description and illustration show comprehension of the passage? (2)
 
The teacher will also assess the students' understanding of the story based on their completion of the following questions:
 
Comprehension Questions:
Did William discover a potential Mayan Civilization?
What do you think motivated William to research Mayan Civilizations and do you think it was hard for him to make the discovery?
Why do you think the Mayans used the stars to build their cities?
How could William learn more about the potential civilization he discovered?
How could this potential civilization contribute to history as we know it?
 
Resources:
Dunn, Morgan. Vivacious Visualization. http://lmd0015.wixsite.com/literacy-designs/contact
Murray, Bruce. Using About-Point to Awaken the Main Idea. http://www.auburn.edu/academic/education/reading_genie/AboutPointRL.html
"Satellite Images Hint at Lost Mayan City." National Geographic Kids. https://www.natgeokids.com/uk/discover/history/general-history/teen-discovers-lost-mayan-city/