My kids got a new text this week. I wanted them to read and visualize it together, as well as get in a few reps, and both have the opportunity to read and draw. I wanted comprehension high and forced output to be low. So:
I put them in pairs with one copy of the text, art supplies, and butcher paper. Kid A began reading to Kid B. Kid A must read each sentence twice, slowly. Kid B is illustrating in detail while Kid A is reading. Kid B can ask Kid A to pause at any time so s/he can draw.
I will periodically ding my bell. When the bell dings, Kids A and B switch reading and drawing, making sure to read every sentence twice. This increases the repetitions as well as slowing down getting through the text so the artist has time to draw. Any time there is a switch, the new reader backs up one paragraph and starts from there. The idea is to create continuity.
They cannot write any words on their paper (except for labeling people with their names). If there are speech bubbles, they have to draw what goes in those speech bubbles.
Then, when we're done, we hang them on the wall and do a gallery walk. Kids, in pairs, walk to papers that aren't theirs, with their copy of the story, and label as many things as they can before the bell dings. Then they go to a new paper and keep labeling. This forces them to look for the little details in each, to connect the pictures with the story from a different angle (that is, not creating the pictures, but with reading and analyzing them), and to reread the story repeatedly for the phrases they want to use. Eventually, I'll have them sit down in front of those pictures and do a journal entry.
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