Guided Imagery

PURPOSE OF THE STRATEGY

This strategy will allow students to develop creative ideas, images and insights prior to reading the novel. In asking them to imagine themselves in an experience like the one Kim has in chapter one, this strategy prepares students to engage with the text in a more meaningful way because it develops ownership and activates their prior knowledge

DIRECTIONS:

Step One: Creating the Image

Begin by asking students to first stretch, inhale slowly, exhale, and relax, find a comfortable position and then close their eyes and listen. Reading the prompts slowly and softly, take the students into the world you wish them to imagine. Use track four, "Mama," on the album Appalachia Waltz by Yo-yo Ma, Edgar Meyer and Mark O'Connor to guide students' imaginations as you read.

Step Two: Reading

Read either the first chapter of Seedfolks or use the series of prompts below. Read slowly and clearly and allow students enough time to think about the actions and images in the text. Have students listen with their eyes closed, or, if that makes them uncomfortable, draw on a paper as you read.

Step Three: Writing

Invite students to open their eyes and write down as many of the descriptive images as they can remember. Encourage them to describe the images and how the images made them feel. Give students several minutes to write. Ask them to recall the music in their minds and relive the experience. What else do they see? How else do they feel? Encourage those who wish to share to do so.

Step Four: Assessment

Discuss the experience with the students. Ask them to talk about the appropriateness of the music to the text. Discuss the effectiveness of music in enhancing imagination. If you used chapter one as a prompt, ask for prediction s about the book, complete the anticipation guide strategy in this portfolio, or read chapter two aloud with the class. If you used the prompt below, read chapter one.

Prompt:

Imagine it is early morning. You have just woken up, but no one else in your house is awake. You stretch, your arms reaching up to the ceiling and you feel your mind clear after the night's sleep. You walk quietly through the house. You don't want to disturb anyone. You open the front door and close it very softly behind you. Once you get outside you can feel that the entire city is still sleeping. You feel alone, but not lonely, and mysterious. Imagine a plot of land that is near your house. You begin to walk quickly down the sidewalk toward the land. You begin to be excited for your early morning mission. When you arrive at the plot of land you find your tools are still there. You move the shovel and the trowel and the packet of seeds and push your hands into the hard brown earth, crumbling the dirt in your fingers until it is soft and smooth. You reach into the ground again for a big handful of dirt and feel the clods disintegrate under the pressure of your hands. You feel the now fine dirt sift through your fingers and out of your hands.

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Reading Strategies developed by Amy Ferguson Hackworth Fall 2000 for Dr. Sirpa Grierson, BYU	Page created by Amy Ferguson Hackworth Fall 2000 Last Updated 11 December, 2000	Banner courtesy of