Your child will practice making pictures in their mind as you read a book together. Then you and your child will watch the movie adaptation of the book and compare their mental images to the movie.
Learning Area(s): Language and Communication; Reading and Writing
MATERIALS
- book and movie adaptation of the book (see Tips)
- sticky notes and pencil
LET'S PLAY
Before you read:
- Skim the book or read a detailed summary.
- Look online for an appropriate movie adaptation of the book.
Tell your child, “Some books have illustrations that help us see what the author pictured while they wrote a story, but other books have no pictures and we have to make the pictures in our mind. This is something that good readers do! I’m going to read a short story to you. While I read, close your eyes and try to make pictures in your mind:
I hold my dad’s strong hand as cars, trucks, vans, and buses zoom and vroom past each other. Their tires padump-padump-padump-padump on the street and some even SCREEEEEEEECH to a stop when the traffic light turns red. Cool rain starts to tickle my skin as it falls fast, making puddles I can stomp and splash! We wait at the corner until it’s safe to walk across the street.”
When you finish the passage, talk about some of the sensory details. Ask your child which things they can picture. What could they hear, feel, see, and smell? Children use sensory information like this (what something looks, feels, smells, tastes, and/or sounds like) to make connections to text that they read. When your child uses their senses and memory skills together while reading, they will understand the text more deeply and remember more of what they read.
“You can make pictures in your mind when you read any book! While we read this book together, I want you to use your imagination to see what the author wants readers to see. When we finish the book, we’ll watch the movie to compare the pictures in our head to the pictures on screen.” Before you read, show your child the cover art and talk about it.
If your child is able, share the task of reading with them. If the chapter book has an illustration before each chapter, show that to your child because it will help them make mental images. Pause occasionally to have your child describe the pictures in their mind as best they can. Note your child’s descriptions using sticky notes to mark pages where your child has vivid mental pictures. These might be pages with many sensory details (what they can imagine hearing, feeling, tasting, seeing, or smelling) or an event that your child likes. Talk about how the pictures in their mind have changed as they read more of the story.
When you finish the book, on the same day or another day, watch the movie adaptation together. Before you watch, you might ask your child,
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- “What do you think ___ (main character, setting) will look like?”
- “What was your favorite part of the book? How would you feel if that part changed in the movie?”
- “What would make the movie better than the book?”
After you watch the movie, compare and contrast the movie and the book. Go back to the pages with sticky notes and talk about whether your child’s mental pictures matched up to the film adaptation.
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- Setting: “How is the setting in the movie different from/the same as what you pictured in your mind?”
- Characters: “Did ___ (main character) look like you thought they would?” “Are there any characters that the movie left out? What do you think that character would look like?”
- Plot: “Were any parts better/worse in the movie? What made them better/worse?” “Did ___ (event) play out like you imagined?”
- “Which did you like more, the book or the movie? Why?”
- “Do you think the people who made the movie did a good job? Do you think the author of the book would like the movie?”
Encourage your child to make pictures in their mind every time you read together! You can repeat this activity with another book/movie pair.
TIPS
- If you are reading a picture book instead of a chapter book, cover the illustrations with a piece of thick paper so your child can practice visualizing what they are reading without the help of pictures.
- You can choose a book/movie pair from the list or find another that your child has not read or seen. Look up a summary to read to your child to find a story they are interested in.
- Stuart Little by E.B. White (1999 movie)
- Charlotte’s Web by E.B. White (2006 movie)
- James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl (1996 movie)
- Madeline by Ludwig Bemelmans (1998 movie)
- Hair Love by Matthew A. Cherry (2019 short film)
- The Lorax by Dr. Seuss (2012 movie)
- Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs by Judi Barrett (2009 movie)
- Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak (2009 movie)
- Fantastic Mr. Fox by Roald Dahl (2009 movie)
- Jumanji by Chris Van Allsburg (1995 movie