Reading Strategy of the Week
OPEN-MIND PORTRAIT
An open-mind portrait is a comprehension strategy that allows a reader to
think about what a character is thinking and feeling. If the thoughts and
feeling make sense in regard to the information in the story, the reader
demonstrates that he/she understands what is being read. Here is how this
strategy works:
1. Have your child choose a story.
2. Read the story with your child or have him/her read by themselves
(Note: If your child reads alone, you might want to preview the story as
well in order to know if the correct thoughts and feeling are being
written in the open mind portrait).
3. Once completed with the story, explain to your child that the thoughts
and feelings of a character allow the reader to understand that
character and in turn, understand the story. Have your child choose a
character for the open-mind portrait.
4. Explain to your child that an open-mind portrait is an activity where the
character’s thoughts and feelings are written down, and they are
determined by the events in the story.
5. Have your child write down brief statements of the various thoughts and
feelings (e.g. sad, nervous). To get a better glimpse of how well the story
was understood, have your child write down examples from the story that
support the thoughts and feelings written down. This allows a child to
really get involved with the story.
6. Once finished, have your child present the open-mind portrait and explain
what he/she wrote down. The presentation in itself is a great
opportunity for your child to be thinking about what has just been read.
Happy reading!
Mrs. Malinowski
An example of an open-mind portrait: