Visualizing and Verbalizing (V/V) is a sequential program of instruction to help children develop mental imagery as a base for language comprehension and thinking. 

Some children read words accurately, but can't comprehend the content. They have an underlying difficulty connecting to the language they read or hear. A primary cause of language comprehension problems is difficulty creating an imaged ‘gestalt’ -a whole. This is called weak concept imagery. This weakness causes individuals to only get "parts" such as a few facts or details rather than the whole picture. Individuals with weak concept imagery often have difficulty with reading comprehension, critical thinking, following directions or connecting to conversations. They may also have difficulty expressing ideas in an organised manner.

Who Would Benefit from the Visualizing & Verbalizing® Program?

Children who have weak concept imagery:

-          have to reread material several times and often remember only a few details, rather than the "whole."

-          may seem shy and have difficulty organizing their language...or they may be talkative but use 'scattered' language, relating information out of sequence.

-          they connect to only part of a conversation and have difficulty responding relevantly and thinking logically. They may ask and re-ask the same question and are labelled "poor listener."

-          their writing is often described as disorganized and nonspecific.

How Does Visualizing & Verbalizing® Program Help?

Once a child is able to visualize and verbalize, improvements are seen in:

1.  Reading Comprehension – they are better able to read material and understand it more than just recall.

2.  Oral Language Comprehension - they are better able to process, organize and understand language concepts.

3.  Oral Language Expression - they are better able to process, organize and express language concepts, resulting in more succinct and fluent verbalizations.

4.   Written Language Expression - they are better able to organize and structure the content of paragraphs and reports, due to improvement in oral language expression and awareness that writing creates images for the reader. 

5.   Critical Thinking - The techniques taught in the V/V^® process help in the development of critical thinking. Once the student has developed an imaged gestalt for a concept, interpretive questions are asked regarding main idea, inference, conclusion, prediction, and evaluation.