Mental Images

I have talked with my students all year about creating mental images in our head. I think it is rare for younger students to get mental images of characters in a story without already seeing a picture of the character already. I feel this way because most children's books are full of pictures so students don't have to think about what the character looks like.

I began the lesson by asking if any of my kids have ever imagined themselves as a character in a movie or book they have read. We talked about what they pictured themselves doing. Then, I showed them the anchor chart on Mental Images.

I like to glue my anchor charts onto chart paper so I can add class discussion notes to it. Click on the mental images picture to download a copy!

After we talked about mental images, I read the book "Pete the Cat Rocking in My School Shoes". I covered the cover of the book with constructions paper so students couldn't see any of the pictures. 

I read the book and then asked my students to draw a picture of what they think Pete the Cat looks like. I told them to draw the mental image they made while I was reading.

We put all of our drawings together so they could see how our mental images are all different!

Finally, we made a chart concluding our lesson. I asked my students:

Did we have the same Mental Image as the Illustrator? NO!

Is that ok? Yes!

Mental Images will be different because we all think differently! Woo hoo!

We like to celebrate our differences because, as you already know, if we were all the same that would be BORING!

How do you teach mental images in your class?

Thanks for stopping by! -Shelley