Sketch to Stretch: Visualizing Vocabulary Study

In this excerpt from Vocabulary Strategies That Work — Do This, Not That!, Kent State professor of education Lori G. Wilfong brings a visualization strategy called "Sketch to Stretch" to vocabulary study.

The original intent of Sketch to Stretch was to allow students to visualize what they were reading. Students read a short passage in a longer text or story (or listen while a text is read aloud to them) and then are given a short amount of time to draw their reaction to the story or what they think just happened. When students have finished reading or listening to the story, they have created a series of drawings to help them remember the text (McLaughlin & Allen, 2002; Rasinski & Padak, 2000).

Sketch to Stretch accomplishes many things for the reader:

• It chunks the text so that students are concentrating on one short passage at a time rather than trying to digest an entire text.
• It forces students to stop and think about the text periodically, ensuring that meaning-making is happening throughout reading.
• It allows students to apply the theory of nonlinguistic representation of text in a fun, natural way.

To bring this strategy to vocabulary study, invite students to read a short passage in a longer text or story. At the conclusion of the passage, ask students to select one word to examine closely. This word should be pertinent to the meaning of the passage; modeling which word to choose and why it is vital! Students then draw what they think the word means in the passage. Students continue on, stopping periodically to select and sketch important words in the text. These words can then be added to a class word wall, nominated for study in Vocabulary Self-Selection, or simply discussed with a partner as to which words were selected and why. To teach this strategy to students, use the following gradual release of responsibility steps:

1. Modeling: Present a shared text to students. Designate a few paragraphs to use for the first instance of Sketch to Stretch. After reading the first section, present to students statements that can be used to help determine if a word is worthy of investigation (Figure 6.1). Once a word is selected using these statements, model for students how you puzzle through your sketch of this word. Emphasize that students have only two to three minutes to do their sketch; no Picassos expected!
2. Nominating: Read through the next section of text with students. Stop and allow students to nominate a word for study, using the statements in Figure 6.1 to qualify their choices. Select a word, and invite students to sketch the meaning of the word in context for two to three minutes. Allow students to share their drawings with their neighbors, comparing their different approaches to the word.
3. Stopping to sketch: Ask students to finish reading the passage. Remind students to stop periodically throughout the text to sketch the meaning of important words (designate a number, or set up the page so that students are visually reminded to stop reading and select a word to sketch — see Figure 6.2).

Figure 6.1 Is a Word Worthy of Investigation?

Figure 6.2 Sample Sketch to Stretch Passage and Template

Source: Excerpted from Scholastic News, 2010.

Reprinted with permission from Lori Wilfong, Vocabulary Strategies That Work — Do This, Not That! Copyright ©2013 Eye On Education, Inc. Larchmont, NY. All rights reserved.