Metacognition refers to one's awareness and understanding of their own thought processes. The document discusses several aspects of metacognition, including visualizing while reading. Visualizing involves creating mental images of the characters, events, settings, and other elements described in the text. The document outlines why visualizing is important for comprehension, some challenges in teaching visualizing strategies, how readers visualize using different components, and how visualizing relates to the metacognitive teaching framework.

1. Metacognition
“Real reading begins with metacognition.”

2. Metacognition refers to a person’s knowledge of the intellectual
functioning of his or her own mind and that person’s conscious
efforts to monitor or control this functioning.

3. Metacognition is "cognition about cognition",
"thinking about thinking", or "knowing about
knowing" and higher order thinking skills. It
comes from the root word "meta", meaning
beyond.

4. While reading, metacognitive
readers are constantly asking if
the material makes sense.
When it doesn’t, these readers
take steps to remedy the situation
by using strategies to repair the
lack of comprehension
(Afferbach, Pearson, and Paris, 2008)

5. Readers sometimes get
stuck when they read, not
understanding a word or
losing the train of thought.

6. The difference between a good
and a poor reader is that the
good reader realizes that
comprehension has broken
down, and knows what
strategy to use to fix it.

7. METACOGNITION IN ACTION
A reader uses metacognition when he/she:
• Previews the text and makes predictions
• Makes connections to personal experience or
other texts
• Asks clarifying questions
• Identifies difficult sentences or passages
• Restates in her own words
• Reacts to the text

8. VISUALIZING
Ronald M. Suplido Jr.

9. DISCUSSION FLOW
I. What Does it Mean to Visualize?
II. The Importance of Visualizing
III. Problems with Teaching
Visualizing
IV. How We Visualize and the
Visualizing Components
(Strategies)
V. Visualizing and the Metacognitive
Teaching Framework (MTF)

11. What does it mean to visualize?

12. Once when I was six years old I
saw a magnificent picture in a
book, called True Stories from
Nature, about the primeval forest. It
was a picture of a boa constrictor in
the act of swallowing an animal.
Here is a copy of the drawing.

13. In the book it said: "Boa
constrictors swallow their prey
whole, without chewing it. After that
they are not able to move, and they
sleep through the six months that
they need for digestion.“

14. I pondered deeply, then, over the
adventures of the jungle. And after
some work with a colored pencil I
succeeded in making my first
drawing. My Drawing Number One.
It looked something like this:

15. I showed my masterpiece to the grown-
ups, and asked them whether the
drawing frightened them.
But they answered: "Frighten? Why
should any one be frightened by a hat?"
My drawing was not a picture of a hat. It
was a picture of a boa constrictor
digesting an elephant.

16. But since the grown-ups were not able
to understand it, I made another
drawing: I drew the inside of a boa
constrictor, so that the grown-ups could
see it clearly. They always need to have
things explained. My Drawing Number
Two looked like this:

19. What did experts say on visualizing?
“If I can’t picture it, I can’t understand it”. (Albert Einstein)
 “It is impossible even to think without a mental picture”
(Aristotle's 348 B.C)
“All thoughts depend upon the image”
(Ferdinand de Saussure, The Father of Modern Semiotics)
 “Man’s mind cannot understand thoughts without images of
them.” (Thomas Aquinas)

25. The
Importance
of Visualizing

26. “The images that readers create through visualizing are deeply
personal and make the reading experience more pleasurable
and engaging, like movies in the mind. Furthermore,
visualizing can help readers better understand the text by
calling on all their senses-conjuring smells, tastes, sounds,
textures, or images that bring the text alive and make reading a
much more enjoyable and satisfying endeavor. Those of us who
have been lost in a book know what it feels like to ignore our
surroundings and be transported into the story. Sometimes it is
so real that we forget who and where we are.”
- Harvey and Goudvis (2000)

27. Tovani (2000) wrote, "If they can see it, they often understand it" (p.
53). This is simple, but true. Good readers form mental images as
they read (Armbruster, Lehr, & Osborn, 2003} by using their
background experiences and the author's words to form images.
At other times readers rely on textual supports such as illustrations
and photographs to help them picture the text. The pictures in our
mind personally connect us to the text or what we are learning, and
they often leave lasting impressions (Keene & Zimmermann, 1997).
Readers who visualize while reading have better recall (Pressley,
1977) and perform better on standardized tests (Jerry & Lutkus,
2003).

28. Students who visualize expository passages can determine
if information is not complete, and therefore they are able
to clarify, even if visual aids are not at their disposal
(Gambrell & Bales, 1986). People who read without
visualizing are simply gliding across the surface of a text,
missing out on the rewarding experience of being
immersed completely in another world or the complete
cognitive engagement that comes from using all their
mental resources to fully understand what they read.

29. The brain sees in order to store and process information.
Visualizing heightens motivation and enjoyment of reading.
Whether reading fiction or nonfiction, visualizing is central to read
and what to think with what we read.
Visualizing is directly related to language comprehension, language
expression, and critical thinking.
When you visualize fiction (e.g. narrative text) you use sensory
images like sounds, physical sensations, smells, touch, emotions
described in the story to help you picture the story.
IMPORTANCE OF VISUALIZING:

30. Problems
with
Teaching
Visualizing

31. The biggest concern with visualizing is that some students feel they can't
do it. It doesn't come naturally to them, and they've never been shown
how to pause and create mental images. These kids tend to be concrete,
linear thinkers and many times prefer nonfiction or realistic fiction. They
are often fake readers, too. Because they don't take the time to make
sense of the text and may not even realize that this is what they should do,
visualizing is out of the question. Furthermore, these students are often
working hard to decode the words that they are unable to make
connections between words and images (Hibbing & Rankin-Brickson,
2003).

32. At other times, they may lack the background
knowledge and vocabulary to assist them in
visualizing the text. Although some visualization
clearly enhances comprehension of the main idea or
theme in a text more than others, we feel that every
time readers pause to put themselves in a text, it
enriches the experience and helps it stick in their
memory.

33. How We
Visualize and
the Visualizing
Components

34. When do I visualize?

35. Visualizing occurs before, during, and
after reading. When we visualize we use our
prior knowledge and text clues. If the text is
less detailed and lacks picture or text feature
support, the readers are left to create their
own image.

36. When expert readers visualize they do the following:
• Make the words in the text into pictures, sounds,
scents, and feelings
• Make connections among the ideas in the text, the
world, and their own experiences
• Place themselves in the text and become involved
with the text
• Improve comprehension
• Enjoy reading
• Remember what was read

37. The following statements are the visualizing components:
• I visualize to help me predict.
• I visualize to help me clarify something in the text.
• I visualize the characters, person, or creatures.
• I visualize the events.
• I visualize the setting or place.
• I visualize using my senses (smelling, tasting, hearing, or feeling).
• I visualize using a physical reaction (hot, cold, thirsty, upset stomach,
etc.).
• I visualize using an emotional reaction (happy, sad, excited, lonely, etc.).
• I visualize using illustrations or text features in the text.
• I visualize to help me remember.

38. Visualizing
and the
Metacognitive
Teaching
Framework

39. Using the MTF to teach visualizing strategies allows
students to have a richer experience with the text and
deepens their comprehension.
The relationship among all of the metacognitive
strategies is important, but it is integral with visualizing,
as the act of imagery intersects with all of the meta
cognitive units, especially connecting and
summarizing.

40. Explicit Instruction
of Visualizing

41. 2. Noticing and Applying Components of Visualizing
With a Text
1. Explaining and Defining Components of Visualizing
Explicit Instruction of Visualizing

42. Refining Strategy Use:
Activities for Teaching Visualizing

43. 1. Visualizing During Shared Reading
2. Sharing Visualizations in Think-
Pair-Share
3. Visualization Continuum

44. I visualize to help me predict.

45. Text Feature Walk
Text features are parts of text that draw
your attention to important information
Headings
Titles
Photographs
IllustrationsCaptions

48. (Extended) Anticipation Guide
It is a strategy that is used before reading
to activate students' prior knowledge and build
curiosity about a new topic. Before reading a
selection, students respond to several
statements that challenge or support their
preconceived ideas about key concepts in the
text.

49. Anticipation Guide

51. I visualize to help me clarify
something in the text.
Anticipation Guide

52. I visualize the characters/
persons/ or creatures.

53. Why are fantasy authors good in
visualizing characters or
creatures?

54. Because many of the characters and creatures in fantasy
books are not in our regular schema, authors of fantasy must
use vivid descriptions to allow the reader to imagine them.
Authors may include illustrations to help, but many times
readers are left only the author's words and their own
imaginations to picture what the characters and creatures look
like. While writers in other genres may have an easier job of
it, the more familiar fantasy authors can make readers feel
with the characters or creatures in the text, the more the story
is enjoyed and understood.

55. Character Quilt

56. Picture Book with a
Strong Character

58. I visualize the events.

59. • Visual Timeline

60. • Draw to Remember Events

61. • Draw to Remember Events

62. • Scene It! Readers need to identify the 6-10 most important
events from the story and sketch these on
drawing paper like a movie reel. After they
complete their illustrations, they should go back
and write a sentence or two that describes what
happened in each scene.

63. I visualize the setting or place.
Setting Quilt
Draw to Remember Setting

64. I remember one time in particular that I went to the beach
with my friends. First, I looked for good place when I arrived at the
beach, because it would be very crowded on weekends or holidays.
I selected a cool place under the trees and extended a mat on the
white sand. The wind that blew through the trees softly made the
weather cool and pleasant. Peace came into my heart when I looked
at the very beautiful long, white sand. People played games on the
beach; for instance they played volleyball. Some of them swam in
the shallow sea. There were some kids trying to make something in
the sand, and then trying to break it. Everybody looked happy at
that time.

65. I visualize using my senses.

66. I see what I read
I feel what I read
It's like a movie
in my mind
I create pictures
in my mind as I
read.

67. What do I:
•Feel…
•See…
•Taste…
•Smell…
•Touch…
•Hear…
Picture This!
• I am picturing
• I can imagine
• My mental images
include

68. I visualize to remember.
Draw to Remember Summaries
Scene It!
Sketch to Stretch

69. Draw to Remember Summaries

72. Self-Assessment and Goal-Setting
I visualize… Tally
1. To help me predict II
2. To help me clarify something in the text IIII
3. The characters, persons, or creatures IIII - IIII
4. The events III
5. The setting or place IIII - I
6. Using my senses IIII - III
7. Using a physical reaction (hot, cold, thirsty,
upset stomach etc.)
I
8. Using an emotional reaction (happy, sad,
excited, lonely, etc.)
II
9. Using illustrations or text features in the text I
10. To help me remember IIII - II

74. GROUP ACTIVITY

75. Anna looked at the tanks of fish. She saw a green
fish, a yellow fish, and a red fish. In the corner, a
crab was hiding behind a rock.
“What do you think, Anna?” Mom asked.
“Would you like to buy one?”
Anna grinned. “I want the green one!” she
said. “It’s the prettiest.”

76. Visualizing as we read is one of life's great pleasures. It transports
us to another time and place or even into another being. It is what brings
us back to reading when we stray into other past times. What can be a
better vacation from reality than escaping into the movies in your mind?
In addition to motivating us to read, visualizing plays another important
role: If we do it well, it helps us to more fully comprehend text. We
visualize what is important to us and remember what we visualize. If we
want our students to get the most out of what they read, then we must
teach them how to do this, and to do this well.
FINAL THOUGHTS

78. Metacognition
Self-Monitor

79. Self-Monitoring is being
aware of your own
thinking when you read.

80. A reader check himself by
asking if what he is reading
sounds right, looks right and
make sense.

81. Self-monitoring questions
enable readers identify what
they understand and what
confuses them.

82. When students self-monitor they
need to:
a. be aware when meaning
breaks down
b. identify what it is they do not
understand (word, sentence,
paragraph), and
c. use appropriate strategies to
“fix-up” and restore
meaning.

83. Self-monitoring Strategies
“Big Three” Monitoring Qs
Does it look right?
Does it sound right?
Does it make sense?

84. How it looks like

85. Self-monitoring Strategies
Click & Clunk
Click – when they understand
what they read (every thing
“clicks” along smoothly)
Clunk – when they don’t
understand what they read

86. How it looks like

87. Self-monitoring Strategies
INSERT
(Interactive Notation System for Effective Reading and Thinking)
It enables learners to pinpoint
the parts of the reading they
understand, parts they find
confusing, and parts that are
important

88. •Helping students focus on comprehending
content while reading
•Offering students a way to evaluate when a text
is easy, just right, or too hard for them
•Providing students with a self-monitoring
strategy they can use
•Helping students identify new information
while reading
How it helps

89. How it looks like

90. Developing Self-monitoring
Abilities
Give Students Time
Teach Self-Monitoring Vocabulary
Employ Teacher Modeling

92. Metacognition
Fix-up strategies

93. Fix-up strategies
When students self-monitor they need to:
a. be aware when meaning breaks down
b. identify what it is they do not
understand (word, sentence,
paragraph), and
c. use appropriate strategies to “fix-up”
and restore meaning.

94. Good readers monitor their comprehension
constantly and take steps to correct situations
when they fail to comprehend.
These steps are called Fix-up strategies.

95. Fix-up strategies
Things that help a reader get
“un-stuck”

96. Fix-up strategies
Are helpers when you lose
meaning of the text or word and
repair broken comprehension.

99. Teach fix-up strategies
- sound out,
- separate into syllables and
sound out,
- reread/read on to decide
what would make sense,
- look for word parts
- prefix, affix, root words,
- ask someone.
Words may be:
- difficult to decode
(teach fix up decoding
strategies)
- difficult to understand
(teach fix up strategies to
determine meaning)

100. Teach each fix up strategy separately, ensuring mastery.
Start with working on words, then sentences and finally
paragraphs.
Teach students to adjust their reading:
- Initially reread (repeated reading)
- Adjust rate, so read again slowly
- Read aloud
- Read sentence before and after
- Read on to see if it becomes clearer

101. Teach students to activate their prior knowledge
about the topic and the text layout and then use
this to:
- Make predictions,
- Ask themselves questions,
- Make a picture in their mind.

102. Teach students it is good to ask for clarification.
This is the sign of a good reader.

103. More Fix-up strategies / Activity

104. • Reread – It is OK to reread text that you’ve already read.
Maybe you misread a word or left out a word that holds
the meaning to the text.
• Read ahead – You might want to continue reading for a
couple of sentences if you are confused. If the confusion
does not clear after a couple of sentences, try another
strategy.

105. • Figure out the unknown words – You may use context
clues, identify roots and affixes, or use a dictionary to
determine the meaning. Do not just skip the word
altogether.
• Look at sentence structure – Sometimes an author’s style
of writing may contain awkward sentence structure. Try
moving the words around in your head until they make
better sense.

106. • Make a mental image – Take time to make a movie in
your head. As you read the descriptions of characters or
settings, paint a picture. This strategy will help you
visualize and comprehend better.
• Define your purpose for reading – Ask yourself why you
are reading. Reading to learn or pass a test requires more
concentration than reading for enjoyment.

107. • Ask questions – If you ask questions as you read, you
will be more actively engaged with the text. You will be
looking for answers to your questions, and will remember
what you read.
• Make predictions – As you read, think about what might
happen next. You will be making inferences and drawing
conclusions about the characters and plot.

108. • Stop to think – Every so often as you read, you should
stop and think about what you have read. If you don’t
remember anything you have read, why continue? Pause
and summarize in your head.

109. • Make connections to what you already know – As you
read you should be thinking about how the information
fits with what you know about yourself, what you’ve read
in other texts, and how things operate in the real world.
This will help you remember what you read.

110. • Look at the pictures, illustrations, charts, and graphs –
These are used by the author to help you understand what
you are reading. Pictures and illustrations help you
visualize what you are reading.
Charts and graphs are used to present the information in a
more visual manner. By closely examining these, you can
deepen your level of understanding.

111. • Read the author’s note – Sometimes the author will
present background information as an author’s note.
By reading this section, you will be preparing your
brain to take in new information and connect it to what
you have already learned.

112. • Ask for help – When you are not understanding what
you are reading, and you do not know which fix-up
strategy to use, ask someone. You might ask a friend
or you might need help from a teacher or parent.

113. Thank You!

114. References:
• Teaching Reading in Today’s Elementary Schools - Betty D. Roe and Sandy
H. Smith
• Teaching Children to Read - D. Ray Reutzel and Robert B. Cooter
• Teaching Reading to English Language Learners Differentiated Literacies –
Socorro G. Herrera, Della R. Perez and Kathy Escamilla