Imagination while reading?

[mrscoach]

Maggie, I definitely agree on not limiting myself to one theory. It was just an observation I made during my last class of students. Like some of you, the students that visualize a story cannot imagine NOT seeing it in their mind, while those who do not just think of it as 'one more thing I should do'.

It grew out of an offshoot discussion about something we were discussing for our novel. I was quick to assure all the students that they weren't wrong to read the way they did, just that some visualized, and some didn't. We were very big on multiple approaches to teaching. Some of our students were so low they drew pictures for vocabulary definitions, but we also incorporated that with other students, so that none would feel singled out, plus just because some COULD write the definitions didn't mean it was the best way for them to learn. I was working at the 9-12 grade level.

My daughter is not a visualizer, but my son is. My daughter also started reading using phonics, which I have always thought messed her up. She literally reads syllable by syllable, sounding out all words. It's painful to watch.

[Maggie Leung]

Originally Posted by mrscoach

Maggie, I definitely agree on not limiting myself to one theory. It was just an observation I made during my last class of students. Like some of you, the students that visualize a story cannot imagine NOT seeing it in their mind, while those who do not just think of it as 'one more thing I should do'.

It grew out of an offshoot discussion about something we were discussing for our novel. I was quick to assure all the students that they weren't wrong to read the way they did, just that some visualized, and some didn't. We were very big on multiple approaches to teaching. Some of our students were so low they drew pictures for vocabulary definitions, but we also incorporated that with other students, so that none would feel singled out, plus just because some COULD write the definitions didn't mean it was the best way for them to learn. I was working at the 9-12 grade level.

My daughter is not a visualizer, but my son is. My daughter also started reading using phonics, which I have always thought messed her up. She literally reads syllable by syllable, sounding out all words. It's painful to watch.

Yup, mrscoach. I was speaking generically, rather than about you. I'm glad someone like you is pursuing teaching. I worry about teachers who say they can't imagine not doing something a specific way. Those are the kinda teachers who'd be likely to shortchange students who don't learn as they do.

[theducks]

I rarely give the characters specific "voices", but I sure hate when Hollyweird gets one wrong
Costner as Robinhood,
Sean Connery as the Dragons voice in Dragonheart (Maybe some reverb would have fixed that, but James Bond, the Dragon?)

OTOH They have done some really right : Golem , Donkey

I love a well crafted setting that gives you a feel for the place without sounding like a tour guide.

But most of all, I want to be entertained.

[Lady Fitzgerald]

Originally Posted by theducks

...Sean Connery as the Dragons voice in Dragonheart (Maybe some reverb would have fixed that, but James Bond, the Dragon?)...

I liked Connery's voice as the dragon. The older he got, the better he looked and sounded.

[Vintage Season]

Usually when I read a story, the words on the page melt away and I am no longer even aware of the text. If I am unable to fully experience the story, I'll probably look for something more interesting to read.

The same holds true for when I write... and as an author it is the highest of compliments for a reader to experience the same level of immersion, simply from whatever words I have committed to a page.

- M.

[Elfwreck]

I don't visualize when I read most of the time. I certainly don't hear the conversations played out--I read a lot faster than people talk. I don't have a movie-version in my head.

I do get a "sense" of the actions going on, and imagine (audiolize?) the quality of the voices, but I don't hear individual words, or parse individual descriptions, most of the time.

And then there's nonfiction; often nothing to visualize. Absorbing concepts instead of character activity seems to go a bit slower, but I'm never sure if that's just because nonfic tends to have more densely-written text; it's possible I'd read novels that averaged 200-word paragraphs slowly.

[LDBoblo]

Originally Posted by Elfwreck

I don't visualize when I read most of the time. I certainly don't hear the conversations played out--I read a lot faster than people talk. I don't have a movie-version in my head.

I do get a "sense" of the actions going on, and imagine (audiolize?) the quality of the voices, but I don't hear individual words, or parse individual descriptions, most of the time.

And then there's nonfiction; often nothing to visualize. Absorbing concepts instead of character activity seems to go a bit slower, but I'm never sure if that's just because nonfic tends to have more densely-written text; it's possible I'd read novels that averaged 200-word paragraphs slowly.

Pretty much the same here. I'm a bit amused at how much many folks rely on the crutch of imagination while simultaneously talking of "good readers" and "poor readers".

[bjones6416]

Originally Posted by Worldwalker

I'm not sure what I'd do to teach people like that (note: IANAT). Maybe try to get their other senses engaged. Have them draw pictures of scenes from the book, or perhaps dramatize them (the less dialog the better!). Pick a story where no physical descriptions are given of the characters, and ask the students to describe them. In short, try to engage senses other than their ears.

Maybe you're NOT a teacher, but you'd probably make a pretty good one if that's how you would teach reading. My sister is a Reading Recovery teacher, and she pretty much uses all those tricks you mentioned while teaching reading. One of her very favorite things to do is "reading theatre," where she assigns each student to read and act out a part in a book, complete with masks and hats and makeshift costumes. Also, while reading aloud, she stops often to make sure that the kids actually know what the passage is actually about -- for instance, she would read, "it was a dark and stormy night," and then stop and say, "Now what does it mean when it says the night was stormy?" Waits on answers. "Do you think it was a relaxing night or a scary night?" And so on. It can take her forever to get through a book that way, but the students love it, and generally end up much better readers after being in her class.

And I'll stop bragging on my sister now. But she IS an excellent teacher.

[mrscoach]

One of the lessons we did while studying "Freedom Writers" was a talk show like "Jerry Springer" where the students acted out the parts of families of two of the students that helped write the book. Students were assigned parts and asked to portray how the family members would feel. They were so into it they didn't want to end the lesson. Afterward they had to write papers on what they had learned about the characters and themselves, and they were pretty good.

[Maggie Leung]

Originally Posted by LDBoblo

Pretty much the same here. I'm a bit amused at how much many folks rely on the crutch of imagination while simultaneously talking of "good readers" and "poor readers".

I'm not sure whether people use it as a crutch. They might just enjoy that type of reading, though I think it's odd to think that that's the only way to read.

I don't think visualizing is necessary for a lot of reading, but sometimes it's just lovely, sometimes sensual. For me, books such as "Remembrance of Things Past" or Michael Ondaatje's "Running in the Family" are more vivid and visual, worth savoring. For me, few books offer that quality of sensory enjoyment, and that's not what I typically look for in books.

[tompe]

Originally Posted by mrscoach

It seems that, often, poor readers do not 'see' what they are reading in their mind. They aren't making that connection in their brain and are too hung up on reading the words of a story. The good readers tend to picture the characters and action going on, just as if they were watching a movie.

I actually asked a lot of friends that are good to very good readers about that. And some saw a movie and some did not (maybe 20-30% saw a movie). So there seems to be two different reading "styles". One is the very visual one were the reader see a movie. The other is probably more based on language, relations and similar things. I do not see a movie and when reading I build up the world in my head adding new facts. I am also more mathematical/logical oriented than visually oriented.

[Maggie Leung]

Originally Posted by tompe

I actually asked a lot of friends that are good to very good readers about that. And some saw a movie and some did not (maybe 20-30% saw a movie). So there seems to be two different reading "styles". One is the very visual one were the reader see a movie. The other is probably more based on language, relations and similar things. I do not see a movie and when reading I build up the world in my head adding new facts. I am also more mathematical/logical oriented than visually oriented.

Yes, wonder how much Myers-Briggs, and right brain / left brain, play into it.

I lean heavily toward logic, but like painting, sculpture and architecture. I think that's why I imagine selectively when reading, and that's what shapes what I choose to read.

[Freeshadow]

Originally Posted by Elfwreck

I don't visualize when I read most of the time. I certainly don't hear the conversations played out--I read a lot faster than people talk. I don't have a movie-version in my head.

Exactly that. and because of the speed difference i HATE audiobooks. Having to wait until the person reading aloud finishers the sentence/paragraph/whatever *shrug*

But i can visualize in full color scenes or characters the way they appear or act, while pausing the textual data feed. I'do this at will with the better/most exciting scenes/pieces/etc., as well as with characters (especially female characters, whose look I enjoy) but sometimes also just to take a closer look at a characters facial expression or voice in a specific situation, which might be as short as half a sentence.

[Maggie Leung]

Originally Posted by Freeshadow

Exactly that. and because of the speed difference i HATE audiobooks. Having to wait until the person reading aloud finishers the sentence/paragraph/whatever *shrug*

Lol. That's why nearly all my audio books are books I've already read. They're mostly classics read in some posh voice, lol, very smooth and lulling.

[AlbertaCowboy]

Originally Posted by LDBoblo

I'm a bit amused at how much many folks rely on the crutch of imagination

That's the first time that I have ever heard of imagination referred to as "a crutch". A mental visualization to me is an enhancement of the reading experience, not merely an aid to get me to the end of the story.