Helping Students Visualize What They Read

For fluent readers, reading is like having a movie play in their minds. But for struggling readers, they see pages and pages of text. Stopping to annotate a text is a classic ELA practice and I use it constantly, but having options for our diverse set of readers and learners is the expectation and, honestly, best practice.

A few techniques to use include margin sketching, comic sketching, and whiteboard sketching.

Margin sketching is exactly what it says: stopping each page and sketching something that represents what you just read.

Comic sketching is creating an illustrated sequence of events so at the end of a text, students have it there to review. I have students write the page number on each box for citing evidence later. 

Whiteboard sketching is drawing important scenes as they come, each student showing the class to discuss details and comprehension out loud. I sometimes push it one step further: before they erase, students have the option to summarize on a piece of paper or copy their sketch.

When introducing one of these strategies, pair students and have them discuss what to sketch, which helps them identify the important parts of the text. Many struggling readers, in particular, are shy to participate in collaborative activities due to possible embarrassment in their learning abilities, but when teachers partner those students up with a stronger reader, many of their conclusions might match and will affirm that the struggling student is indeed correct in their thinking. It could also help them notice what the other student chooses from the text as the summarized sketch, helping them draw conclusions later.

For students who thrive in reading, this allows them to follow along and not get too far ahead in the text. It helps them stay on pace and participate in a creative thinking process with sketching. Encourage summary over artistic talent. Stick figures are preferred so students don’t stay stuck in drawing for too long, delaying the reading. Using symbols instead of drawing the entire scene also works. The key is that the student who is sketching understands the text.