Making a Movie in Your Mind, How Visual Imagery Helps Reading Comprehension

A couple of years ago I sat across the table from a middle school girl who was several grade levels behind when it came to reading comprehension. After a couple of sessions I realized that every word that she read was lost to her shortly after she heard herself speak it and that she was not creating visual images in her head of what she was reading. Creating mental images of what is read makes for a deeper reading experience. Just like you can think back to your 16th birthday and wonder why your uncle gave you bunny slippers instead of your favorite game, you can also think back and consider the events of a story you read. This is a skill that can be taught and after a couple of years of one-on-one intervention, my client is now nearing grade level comprehension and is savoring what she reads like she never has before. Below are a couple of programs to look over if reading comprehension and visualization is a challenge. 

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The Visualizing and Verbalizing program from Lindamood-Bell is the gold standard program for teaching visual imagery to support both spoken and written language. It is well researched, but requires training and expertise in order to administer the program to its maximum effect. 

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If there is a minor reading comprehension challenge, mostly with higher level thinking and grasping the deeper meanings of what is read, The Power of Visual Imagery might be what you are looking for It is a much less expensive book that can be ordered from Corwin Press or of of Amazon. It teaches some of the same Visualization Methods as Visualizing and Verbalizing, but without the intensity or repetition. 

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