In teaching comprehension, the struggling
student often needs to be “taught” how to stay engaged with the
text. Rather than having the student
independently read and then discuss the passage, The Power of Visual Imagery program
uses on-going descriptions of the text by the reader to ensure that the
reader has remained engaged with the text.
The use of verbal feedback requires the student to
gauge his own comprehension, which leads to an awareness of the
comprehension failure and ultimately “fixing” the problem. This helps the reader learn to actively
monitor their own comprehension.
Comprehension monitoring involves actively evaluating whether one is comprehending what is being read and the ability to
recognize when comprehension has stopped.
The use of interactive visual imagery for
comprehension allows students to integrate a primarily verbal (language)
task (reading) with visual-spatial task (imaging) which utilizes both
verbal and visual systems.
The interactive visual imagery technique
–
includes
visual imagery training session
–
students
image and describe their images
–
students
receive verbal feedback
–
students
read progressively longer text passages
ANY type of literature
can be used with the pictures removed.
It is best to use literature that is vivid with descriptions of situations
including color and action. Students
initially visualize sentence by sentence, then half-page at a time,
full-page at a time, and finally the entire story independently.
An
example is given below.
Step
1
"Look at the title. Think about what the
story might be about."
Step
2
"Read
or listen to the first few sentences.
Remember to get a picture in your head for each sentence. Do not go on until you get a moving
picture in your head like a movie. Describe your movie."
Students are given feedback regarding verbal
elaborations. Feedback is given to assist those students having difficulty.
Step
3
"Read
or listen to the rest of the first half of the page. Remember to get a picture for each
sentence. Ask if you do not
understand a word. Describe your
image. Tell me as much information as you can remember."
Provide
feedback.
Step 4
Continue
with step 3 using half-page increments to the end of the story or until the
allotted time is up.
Results
of Research using The Power of Visual Imagery
•
Visual
imagery instruction is more effective than traditional reading basal
approach (old series) for improving reading comprehension skills.
•
Using a
visual imagery technique is most effective when combined with verbal
interaction (feedback)
to increase reading comprehension skills.
In a
classroom setting an experiment was conducted to determine whether
interactive visual imagery instruction was more effective than traditional
basal reading instruction (control) on basic reading comprehension standard
scores. The study included 18
students placed in resource room for Language Arts instruction ranging from grades
3-5 with a minimum
of one-year overall reading delay and a minimum word recognition of 2.0
grade level. Pre and post tests were
the WIAT Basic Reading subtest and the WIAT Reading Comprehension
subtest.
The material used were stories from 3rd grade basal series with
pictures intact and given verbatim from the resource room protocol from the
teacher’s manual. A 16-day
treatment intervention over 5-6 weeks was used. An interactive visual imagery protocol
similar to the above example was used over the same period of time. When comparing the efficacy of both
instructions, there was a significant improvement in the reading comprehension
grade level of the interactive visual imagery group as compared to the
basal reading group as shown below.
For more information on the book and order a copy of “The Power of Visual Imagery: A Reading Comprehension Program For
Students With Reading Difficulties” with for use in your home or
in the classroom.
