Application: Visualization with Poetry
Joyce: Now, let's try it a little bit differently. This time it's your turn to make pictures in your mind.
Emily: Are you going to draw something?
Joyce: Actually, I'm going to read you a poem. I'll read it more than once. Why don't you close your eyes so you can really concentrate?
Emily closes her eyes and listens as Joyce reads Sun, by Valerie Worth. When finished, she tells her to keep her eyes closed and continue listening as she reads the poem again.
Sun
The sun
Is a leaping fire
Too hot
To go near,
But it will still
Lie down
In warm yellow squares
On the floor
Like a flat
Quilt, where
The cat can curl
And purr.
After the second reading, Joyce asks Emily to open her eyes.
Joyce: I wonder what you saw as I read this poem.
Emily: Yellow sun.
Joyce: Yes.
Emily: And fire in the sky.
Joyce: Oooh. Fire in the sky and yellow sun.
Emily: It's hot! Burning hot like the sun.
Joyce: Is your whole picture up in the sky?
Emily: No. Part of it's inside a house.
Joyce: How do you know that?
Emily: Well, there's a floor and a cat.
Joyce: Well done, Emily. I can tell that you are feeling and seeing the words in the poem because of the way you describe the pictures. Is the yellow in the house the same as the yellow in the sky?
Emily: (She starts to nod then stops and shakes her head) No, up in the sky is brighter yellow, with orange. In the house is pale yellow. It's not as hot down there.
Joyce: When you say, "down there," it makes me think about this part of the poem: "But it will still lie down in warm yellow squares on the floor, like a flat quilt…" Can you picture the floor?
Emily: (Nods) It's got squares on it. Squares of yellow.
Joyce: Where do you think those squares come from?
Emily: It's the sun shining through.
Joyce: Yes, that's what I see too. Why do you think the poet chose a square shape?
Emily: Because they're like a quilt….
Joyce: And a quilt has squares?
Emily: Little squares….I know. The sun shines through a window — onto the floor with little squares.
Joyce: Good thinking! And you said the sun was pale in the house…what else is different about the sun in the house?
Emily: There's a cat there. I hear him purring.
Joyce: You're not just seeing the poem, you're also hearing the poem with the sound of the cat purring. (Pauses to see if Emily has anything more to say. Then continues.) Now that you have a detailed picture of this poem in your mind, why don't we take some time for you to draw it?
Emily: Okay. (reaching for the colored pencils) I definitely need yellow!
Visualization with poetry … What just happened?
Joyce planned an activity to offer Emily additional support with the strategy of visualization. In the process, she:- Revisited and reinforced a strategy she modeled earlier
- Adapted the activity so Emily did the visualizing this time
- Relied on the richness of poetry to enhance Emily's ability to visualize
- Asked questions about the poem's imagery to assess Emily's understanding
Emily's visualization of the poem, Sun, provided important information about her acquisition of the strategy.
- Emily connected with the poem and gave detailed descriptions of what she saw, heard, and felt, revealing the progress she has made with visualization
- Emily was eager to draw the picture she made in her mind, demonstrating her engagement with and grasp of the activity
- With support from the tutor, Emily made sense of poetic imagery and gained a deeper understanding of the text
See the next session: Making Connections
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Date of Last Updated: 7/14/2004
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