Prepare the youngsters for the visualization exercise by letting them know this is an important skill that will make their reading more enjoyable. Ask them to listen to the details you will be giving them, and to create a visual picture in their minds as you speak. Tell them to shut their eyes, then describe for them a colorfully dressed character. Add some silly or surprising features such as a hat that looks like a rabbit.
Ask the children to open their eyes and ask them how many were able to see the picture in their minds. Be prepared to add more details and repeat the exercise for those who might not have been successful on the first try, although almost all young children will succeed.
Tell the children that you are going to exercise their minds by having them practice drawing pictures inside their heads. Select a picture book that has minimal print on each page, then read the first page to the children without showing them the picture. Ask the children to raise their hands when they see the picture in their minds.
Show them the picture in the book and discuss with the children how their mental pictures may have differed from the picture. Talk about the details they might have added. Talk about how each of their visualizations might differ from each other and why this might have happened. Talk about what might have been left out in the written words that left an opportunity to be filled in various ways.
Practice a different visualization exercise by reading aloud to them a descriptive paragraph that includes many details about colors and positions of objects. Tell the students to close their eyes while they listen to help them concentrate on their visualizations.
Ask the students to draw the picture they saw in their minds while you were reading. Tell them not to look at each other's drawings while they are working. Have them share their completed drawings with a partner or in groups of four, and discuss the differences in the drawings and the reasons for the differences.
Practice these visualization exercises with the children every day when you first start, then taper down to once per week. After several weeks or months, read aloud to the children and remind them to visualize while you are reading. Ask them if they feel they can now more clearly see the words as pictures than before they were taught visualization.