Reading Strategy: Visualize

When you read, look for details that help you “see” what is happening in the text. Write them down. When you form mental images of people, places, and events, it helps you understand what you read.

Reading Strategy Visualize
    How to Form Mental Images

  • 1. As you read, look for words that describe people, places, and events.

  • 2. Try to picture those things in your head. Write what you see on sticky notes.

  • 3. Sketch what you see, too. Place the drawings by the text.

Strategy in Action

Here’s how one student formed mental images.

Look Into the Text

Festivals and holidays are important to most immigrants. They are a way for people to celebrate their cultural traditions. People eat traditional foods, hear familiar music, and display or buy handicrafts. Also, people from other cultures can come to enjoy new sights, sounds, and tastes.

I see a woman showing someone a colorful quilt she made.

Mexican Americans celebrate Cinco de Mayo (May 5). This holiday marks an important victory of the Mexican Army in 1862.

Illustration of a woman sewing a quilt

Practice Together

Reread the passage above. Follow the steps in the How-To box. Write what you “see” on sticky notes next to the text. Then make a drawing of it.