CCC Gainesville | Blog
“The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe is a great literary resource when teaching children to think critically. Its use of symbolism is profound, even for the ages of 8 and 9 year olds. In my teaching experience with it, I have used this particular text to not so much teach symbolism, but to teach children to visualize what they are reading. If you think about it, all letters, words, and sentences are just symbols we have given meaning to form certain sounds and ideas. My struggling students were particularly able to practice visualizing techniques with great success while reading this novel. I think it is because it is so descriptive with its characters, setting, and conflict, yet not overbearing so as to hinder the reader from grasping what the story is about. And there is the rub. By understanding the story, through visualization, my readers where not only able to comprehend what was going on, but enjoy what it is they were reading. Always when we arrive at the first meeting of Aslan in the book, I have my students draw what it is they “see” from the book in that scene. I am not so much worried about how well they draw, or how well they sketch that scene, but I am more interested in them explaining to me, in their own words, what it is they see. What sounds do they hear? What things they might smell? What is the temperature like outside at that moment? Its in these moments a teacher can informally assess 1) if the child has comprehended what they have read 2) They have practiced the skill of visualizing the text, and 3) They can have their thinking extended by asking “How” and “Why” questions in relation to the text.
In the end, it always makes for a great story to read out loud with my students. Their use of different voices for the different characters, as well as their facial expressions, serves as just another way to practice visualization, but also to just have fun reading a good book 🙂 ”
Make sure you turn up for the discussion at 9 AM on June 30.
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