Encourage creative thinking and reading comprehension with our engaging The Speedy Sloth: Visualising activity. Designed to accompany a whole class reading of The Speedy Sloth by Rebecca Young, this resource supports students in visualising what’s happening in the text using prior knowledge and descriptive clues.

Visualising is a powerful comprehension strategy that helps students make mental pictures as they read. These no-prep worksheets prompt students to pause during or after reading the story and imagine a scene based on the text. By closing their eyes and engaging with specific prompts, students are encouraged to form a rich, personal image of the story’s events - strengthening both understanding and engagement.

We recommend completing this activity before showing students the illustrations in the book, allowing them to create their own version first. Then, compare their visualisations with the author’s illustrations to spark meaningful discussion. Multiple worksheet versions are included to support a range of learners - whether students are drawing only or combining drawing with a written description using 24mm or 18mm lines.

Key Learning Outcomes:

• ✅ Visualise descriptive text using mental imagery
• ✅ Use prior knowledge and text clues to build understanding
• ✅ Express visualisations through drawing and writing
• ✅ Compare personal interpretations with published illustrations
• ✅ Build comprehension through sensory and imaginative engagement

What’s Included:

• Three differentiated worksheet options:
•     - Drawing a visualised scene
•     - Drawing + written description (24mm lines)
•     - Drawing + written description (18mm lines)

Materials Needed:

• Printed worksheets
• Pencils, crayons, or markers for drawing and writing
• Optional: A3 paper for younger students or detailed drawings

How to Use:

1. Read or pause during The Speedy Sloth and select a descriptive passage.
2. Ask students to close their eyes and imagine the scene, using prompts such as:
   • - What is the character doing?
   • - What do they look like?
   • - Where are they?
   • - What is near them?
   • - What time of day is it?
3. Students complete the worksheet by drawing and optionally writing about what they imagined.
4. Compare student work with the book’s illustrations to highlight similarities and differences.

Ideas for Classroom Use:

• 💡 Use as part of a comprehension lesson focused on mental imagery
• 💡 Include in your literacy rotations or reading response activities
• 💡 Display students’ illustrations alongside corresponding text quotes
• 💡 Use to support visual learners and reluctant writers
• 💡 Pair with oral storytelling for students to describe their imagined scene aloud

Top Teacher Tips:

• 💛 Enlarge worksheets to A3 to allow more space for drawing and detailed writing
• 💛 Guide students with verbal prompts before they begin visualising
• 💛 Use this task to introduce the strategy of ‘visualising’ in your reading program
• 💛 Collect finished work as evidence of comprehension and inferential thinking

Check out more amazing resources related to The Speedy Sloth in our The Speedy Sloth Book PACKAGE.

Available in our basic fun font and all Australian state fonts.