Creating Mental Images
Creating Mental Images is one of my favorite units to teach. It
gives readers a chance to interact with the text in a way that's personal to
them. We begin our unit with very simple poems and stories and gradually add
stories which require them to use their schema and background knowledge to
conjure up an image.
My Neighbor's Dog is Purple is a
great poem to use to begin this unit. Not only is it very simple and fun, but it
also shows readers that Mental Images can change as you read.
I read the first two stanzas of the
poem several times. As I read I have them close their eyes and create a Mental
Image in their mind. Once I've read it several times I have them draw their
image
Then, I read the last part of the poem and after they settle down
(they love that it is a crocodile and go CRAZY) I have them draw their new
Mental Image.
Close up of crocodiles. Since we just did our zoo unit last week
and learned about alligators and crocodiles it was easy for them to draw the
crocodile. It was so cute to hear them say things like, "I need to make sure he
has his top and bottom teeth showing so he won't look like an
alligator."
This poem is in one of his books, I think it's from A Pizza the
Size of the Sun but it is also free on the web so I'm going to post the
poem here for you so that you don't have to search for it.
My Neighbor's Dog is Purple
My neighbor's dog is purple,
its eyes are large and green,
its tail is almost endless,
the longest I have seen.
My neighbor's dog is quiet,
it does not bark one bit,
but when my neighbor's dog is
near,
I feel afraid of it.
My neighbor's dog looks
nasty,
it has a wicked smile....
before my neighbor painted
it,
it was a crocodile.
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