One of the most important concepts we teach to our students here at Next Step Learning is the idea of symbol imagery. Nanci Bell, one of the founders of Lindamood-Bell, states, “Symbol imagery is the ability to create mental representations (i.e. imagery) for the sounds and letters within words.” Let’s use an example to make this definition more clear. If I were to ask you to close your eyes and picture the word cat, could you do it? Can you see each individual letter clearly? Could you tell me the third letter of the word quickly and effortlessly? What if I were to ask you to change that third letter to a “p?” Would you be able to tell me what that new word says?
Symbol imagery allows a person to create that image of the word “cat” in their mind so that they can both quickly read and speak the word correctly. Individuals who have weak symbol imagery would have a hard time imagining the word “cat.” If I asked one of our students who has very weak symbol imagery the very same question, they might reply, “I can’t see anything” or “I lost my picture.” The student will attempt to imagine the word but when we question them further, we would find that they were unable to see what comes after the first letter. They might say “o” or “i” instead of “a” because they are unable to create a proper image for the word in their mind.
At Next Step Learning, we constantly ask these questions to our students because we want to teach them how to make pictures in their mind because we believe that it’s the most effective way for a child to learn how to read and write well. We want our students to be able to first consciously create images in their head, so it can become an effortless and subconscious process.
Citation: Bell, Nanci. The Symbol Imagery (SI) Test Examiner’s Manual. Avila Beach, CA, Gander Publishing, 2010, p. 1.
This article was written by Stephen Magill.