Emily Sanders

Sketching My Way Through The Text

Description of strategy: What is it? Who is it for?
The sketching my way through the text is a strategy that involves
drawing simple pictures or diagrams. The purpose of this strategy is to
get students to visualize the meaning in a text. Its another way for
students to stop, think, and react without actually marking up the
original text. Drawing pictures or diagrams along the way can help
students further conceptualize ideas from their reading. This strategy
can be used in whole group, small group, or individually. These
drawings are quick and simple representations so they can be
implemented in any grade. This strategy should be used during
reading to construct understanding, then after to analyze, and
evaluate the text.
Benefits of implementation: Why use it?
Students learn in different ways because not everyone thinks in the
same way. Each student learns on his or her own level in his or her own
way. There are many ways students can develop an understanding of a
topic outside of words and numbers. For instance, pictures can be used
to help readers understand subject-area material by providing
visualization to what they are reading. Daniels and Zemelman (2014)
says that, Drawing is especially powerful for many students because it
helps them visualize what they are reading about, and thats one of the
most effective thinking strategies that proficient readers employ
(p.131). In this strategy students create a sequence of sketches to
illustrate thoughts, steps, or stages of a process described in their
reading. Adding a visual link to the text this can enrich the learning
experience and allows students to create their own understanding
giving them a better chance to remember the content.
Steps of implementation: How does the strategy work in
practice?
1. Show students how you create your own quick sketches as you
read aloud through a portion of the text. Be sure to give a
description of what you are drawing and why. Its important to
keep the drawings simple like rough diagrams and stick figures
so the students understand the drawings are not meant to reflect
their artistic abilities.
2. Now let the students try it on their own. Students should stop at
various but appropriate points in their reading to do their sketch.
Emphasize that the drawings should remain quick and simple to
keep an even flow of reading. Also, the full reading time should
not be consumed by only drawing.
3. Leave time for sharing. Sketches should be big enough for
classmates to easily compare and see the many ways an idea

Emily Sanders
can be represented. Organize a gallery walk either physically or
electronically so students can view each others work. Provide
time for comments, responses, whole-class or small-group
discussion. The gallery walk provides an opportunity to compare
the various ways of interpreting material that can lead into
prompts for discussion or possible aids for review.
Differentiation: How is the strategy modified to meet the
needs of individual and exceptional learners?
The teacher can make a model for the students to use. Higher students
can make their own sketches. This strategy can be differentiated to fit
all learning styles and multiple intelligences by giving students various
options of sketches such as diagrams, maps, synthetic diagrams,
process diagrams, structure diagrams, or digital diagrams.
Implications for Practitioners, Disclaimers, & Cautions
This strategy is especially useful in science. However, it can be
implemented in any classroom and seems to be effective. The only
negative thing is that it can be a big time commitment so you would
not want to use it for small topics and concepts. I like the idea and
would like to use it in my future classroom, but there are ways to
condense it to make it more time efficient like have them sketch on a
smaller scale using post-it notes.
References and Related Resources
Daniels, H., & Zemelman, S. (2014). Sketching My Way Through Text.
Subjects Matter: Exceeding standards through powerful content
area-literacy reading. p. 130-132. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann
Harvey, S, & Goudvis, A. (2007). Strategies That Work: Teaching
Comprehension for Understanding and Engagement (2nd ed.).
York, ME: Stenhouse.
Hoyt, L. (2002). Make It Real: Strategies for Success with Informational
Texts. p. 139-141. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.
Rhode, M. (2011). Sketching The Visual Thinking Power Tool. A List
Apart. http://alistapart.com/article/sketching-the-visual-thinkingpower-tool/.