Reading Strategy 5 1
Copyright © by Holt, Rinehart and Winston. All rights reserved.
Strategy 5:
Visualizing Information
Implementation Guide
Overview
Social studies textbooks are full of charts, diagrams, pictures, illustrations,
political cartoons, and maps. These visual aids are placed in textbooks to
enhance the learning of the content. In their rush to complete an assignment,
students often skip over the visual information that may actually assist them in
the comprehension process.
Struggling readers often have difficulty "visualizing" ideas presented in
text. Visual information displayed in a social studies textbook can be flipped
over and ignored or studied and incorporated. What students
do with
the visual
information is the important ingredient to comprehending text.
The more that students are involved in creating the visual image, the
more engaged they will be with the ideas in the text. In this activity students will
gain practice in using and interpreting visual information.
The Strategy in Action
Students should complete the following steps to practice the strategy. Be sure
to pass out copies of Activity Guide 5 before students begin their work.
Step 1: Preview the Text Noting the Visual Information Presented.
This
information may be in the form of charts, diagrams, pictures, or
illustrations. In this case, have students view the image of the school
house on the Great Plains. You may either print out the image or have
students view it online.
Step 2: Ask How the Visual Information Relates to the Text or Why the
Author(s) Included This Information.
It is important that students create
a link between the text and the visual. Have students note aspects of the
image that they think will be described in the passage.
Step 3: Generate Questions Raised by the Visual Aid.
For question 2 of the
activity guide, students should list two to three questions that arise from
the image.
Step 4: Read the Text.
Have students read the passage on building
communities on the Great Plains.
Step 5: Go back and Review Visual Aids in the Text.
In part B of the activity
guide, students should evaluate whether the visual accurately displays
the most important ideas in the text.
Discussion
Once students have finished the activity, you may want to have a brief
discussion with them about the assignment. Encourage students to probe how
the visual information in the text aids the reader in comprehension.
Answers to the Student Activity Guide
Reading Strategy 5 2
Copyright © by Holt, Rinehart and Winston. All rights reserved.
Part A:
1. Previewing the text, students will notice the picture of students in 1893 in front of
a schoolhouse. They may guess that this text has something to do with schools on
the Great Plains.
2. Questions may vary, but students may include some of the following:
a. Why were the children so serious?
b. Were these all the children in the community? How big was their town?
c. Who built this schoolhouse?
d. Was it used it for other purposes?
Part B:
Students may be able to explain the answers to their questions.
Reading Strategy 5 3
Copyright © by Holt, Rinehart and Winston. All rights reserved.
Name:____________________________DATE:____________Class:________
Strategy 5: Visualizing Information
Activity Guide
Part A:
Answer the following questions BEFORE you read the text.
1.
Preview the text. List below the visual information accompanying this text.
Next, state how this information aids the reader in understanding the text.
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2.
After studying the visual information with the text, list the questions below
that you would like answered.
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Part B:
Read the text on building communities on the Plains, view the
accompanying visual information, and complete the activity that follows.
Building Communities on the Great Plains
Communities were an important part of life on the Plains. Many early settlers
found life on their remote farms to be extremely difficult. About her mothers life
as a pioneer. Esther Clark explained: "It took [courage] to live twenty-four hours
at a time, month in and out, on the lonely and lovely prairie." Farmers developed
communities so that they could assist one another in times of need.
One of the first things that many pioneer communities did was establish
a local church and a school. Churches served as gathering places for pioneer
families. Even small communities made an effort to get schools started. Many
communities raised money and ran the schools themselves. One woman
Reading Strategy 5 4
Copyright © by Holt, Rinehart and Winston. All rights reserved.
recalled proudly, "They [the school board] and the pupils and I build that school
house with our own hands."
Pioneer schools were usually small one-room buildings where children
of all ages learned together in one class. Few children had schoolbooks, and
many children went to school only part of the year because they had to help with
farmwork. Most teachers in these pioneer schools were young women who
made little money.
Frontier families worked very hard to provide a community for
themselves and for their children. Through these efforts, more people found the
West an appealing place to live and raise a family.
List the type of visual information with the text again and state in what ways it
was helpful (or not) in understanding the text.
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Reading Strategy 5 5
Copyright © by Holt, Rinehart and Winston. All rights reserved.
