Using visual strategies can help improve reading comprehension in 3 key ways: 1) Visual displays such as pictures, imagery and graphic organizers can help readers understand, organize and remember the information in the text. 2) Strategies like picture walks, highlighting important facts, and creating graphic organizers can help readers actively engage with the text before, during and after reading. 3) Visualizing story events and connecting them to one's own experiences strengthens comprehension of the literature.

1. Reading
Comprehension
Using Visual
Strategies
‚There is an old saying that a picture is worth a thousand
words. When it comes to comprehension, this saying might be
paraphrased, ‘a visual display helps readers understand,
organize, and remember some of those thousand words.’‛
~Duke & Pearson, 2002
Katie
Leslie
Whitney

2. Reading Comprehension
"Researchers have found that good readers are
active or strategic readers who use a variety of
comprehension strategies before, during, and
after reading a text.‚
~Perfection Learning Corporation

3. Visual Strategies
• What is it?
Reading comprehension using visual strategies is understanding the text
through the use of pictures, imagery, and graphic organizers. This means
the reader connects their thoughts into visual representations to better
understand the literature.
• How can these strategies help?
‚There is an old saying that a picture is worth a thousand words. When it
comes to comprehension, this saying might be paraphrased, ‘a visual
display helps readers understand, organize, and remember some of those
thousand words.’‛¹—Duke & Pearson, 2002

4. Visual BEFORE Reading
Strategies
• Build Prior Knowledge
– Prior knowledge is using previous experiences to connect
or predict upcoming events
• Predict
– Use prior knowledge to talk about what is going to happen
in the story or text
• Example: While looking at the image of the book below, what do
you think is going to happen in the story?

5. Visual BEFORE Reading
Strategies
• Picture Walks
– Going through images only from the text to familiarize your
student with the story's contents
• Vocabulary Identification
– Have students go through the text and identify the
unknown vocabulary. Students can then create pictures to
illustrate the meaning of the vocabulary before they read.
• Example: Students illustrate science vocabulary words to help them with
the meaning

6. Visual DURING
Reading Strategies
• Highlight Important Facts
– As students read, have them underline or highlight
the important facts of the text
• Literature: color code the highlighting for the story elements
• Textbook: highlight important vocabulary and main topics of the text under
each heading
• If you are unable to write in a book, use post-its by putting the post-it
along the edge of the page to mark the important facts
• Graphic Organizer
– Using graphic organizers can help students
sequence and organize thoughts about a story as
they read it

7. Visual DURING
Reading Strategies
• Picture Cues
– As the student is reading, have them look at the pictures to
help them understand what is going on in the text
• Stop and Check with Visualization
– Have students read a sentence and describe what it looks
like in their mind
• Example: A student stops while reading
her story to picture the words as
images in her mind

8. Visual AFTER
Reading Strategies
• Sequencing
– Have students create visual drawings or story maps of
what occurred during the story after they have read it.
• Readers Theater
– Students role play events from the text by creating the
images they "see" while reading
• Example: Below is an image of students role playing the events
from a story they just finished reading

9. Visual AFTER
Reading Strategies
• Response to Literature
– Visual clues to help children make
connections from the text to
themselves, real world, and the text
• Example: Below is an example of a visual
organizer to help students with their
response to literature

10. Resources for Reading
Comprehension
Mashable: 6 Sites that can create Mrs. Dowling's Reading
comics online Comprehension Skills Corner
English for Everyone: Free reading Enchanted Learning: Resources and
comprehension practice passages worksheets for all subjects
for all levels
Starfall: Free phonics and reading
Mr. Nussbaum: Reading help
Comprehension passages and
quizzes Reading A-Z: Everything you need
to teach someone to read
Interactive Reading Websites
Teacher Planet: Worksheets for
The Reading Matrix: Interactive teachers and parents
Reading Games
Intervention Central: Intervention
help and tips