This week, the kids in the 1-2s did a visualization practice using a Karla Kuskin poem called Dragon. First the poem was read aloud to the students twice while they visualized an image of the dragon in the poem using the author's description. After, they were each given a copy of the poem and the class did a shared reading. The kids then drew another picture of the dragon, but this time they could refer back to the poem to reread the lines and check their pictures for which details the author had given us and which features were left open for us to freely imagine.
Then we had the kids reflect on which of their two drawings better matched the description of the dragon in the poem. Most of our students said that reading the poem themselves gave them a better image because they could read it at their own pace and go back to reread lines to check that they had included all the details. Other students said that hearing the poem helped them get a clearer image of the dragon being described as they could close their eyes and just focus on imagining the dragon, instead of splitting their attention between reading and visualizing.
This exercise is a good one to help kids get to know themselves as learners and which modalities help them learn - do they learn better when hearing someone tell them information? Or when they read it for themselves?
Check out the pictures below to see both versions of the kids' dragon pictures!
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