Think-Alouds By Samantha Bell, Erin Corcoran and Joanna

Spelitis

Learning Goal & Success Criteria

Learning Goal Participants are able to understand, explain and effectively model the think-aloud strategy. Success Criteria • Participants will be able to:

– Describe the think-aloud strategy, – Explain why the think-aloud strategy is a

useful means of teaching reading comprehension,

– Demonstrate the think-aloud strategy effectively.

Definition • This strategy teaches students how to

direct and monitor their thinking when reading. (Tompkins, Campbell and Green, 2012)

• It also helps students to become competent readers and construct meaning from a text. (Reading Rockets, 2012)

• The teacher’s verbalisations act as a model for students and these need to include describing the things that the teacher is thinking about as they read that help track their understanding of the text (Reading Rockets, 2012).

Roles of a Reader

(Freebody & Luke, as cited in Fellowes and Oakley, 2010)

Code Breaker

Text Participant

Text Analyst

Text User

Step One

Choose a text

Choose a text that is suitable for the students

you are teaching.

Step Two

Plan the think-aloud

Decide what the focus of your think-aloud will be; what

strategies are you doing to demonstrate; where will you

pause and what kind of thinking do you want to demonstrate.

Step Three

Demonstrate a think-aloud

Read the text and pause to think-aloud; explain to the students what you are thinking and how you are

using a particular strategy or strategies to solve a reading problem. The most effective way to do this is to

use ‘I’ sentences.

Step Four

Annotate the text

Write a note about your thinking and attach it next to the text that prompted the think-aloud. You

can use a word, a phrase, context clues or reread, to quickly

demonstrate and document your thinking.

Step Five

Continue thinking-aloud

Continue reading the text, pause to think aloud again and

annotate the text with additional notes about your thinking.

Step Six

Reflect on the procedure

Review your annotations; talk about the strategies you used and reflect on the usefulness

of think-alouds.

Step Seven

Repeat the procedure

Read another book and get students to take turns thinking aloud and annotating the text.

Theoretical Background • Gunning (2012) suggests that think-alouds

demonstrate comprehension processes such as:

– Predictions

– Creating images

– Linking information in text with prior knowledge

– Monitoring comprehension

– Overcoming problems with word recognition or comprehension.

• Students will gradually internalise dialogue, which then becomes their inner speech. (Pearson Education, 2012).

• Wilhelm (2001), suggests that think-aloud strategies can be used not only as a research technique but as a tool to help students understand the complex processes of making meaning from reading.

Stop and Think Cards

Thinking Aloud Stems

(Ontario Education, 2006)

English as a Second Language (ESL)

Think-Alouds help ESL students to: • Make sense of new

information, • Activate prior

knowledge, • Build confidence and

competence when using the English language (Migyanka, Policastro & Guiqiu, 2005).

Strategy Modification • Before the think aloud:

The teacher can preview the difficult words in the text.

• During the think aloud: The teacher can clarify the words the children find challenging.

• After the think aloud: The teacher can go over key words and the most frequently used words in the text, to help further develop the child’s understanding of the text.

Modifications for Years 4-6 Reciprocal Think-Alouds follow the same

procedure, however students work in pairs.

• Students take turns reading using more complicated texts.

• Each student has the opportunity to use the strategy while also observing it.

• Each student is able to reflect on the process together, share the strategies that they tried during reading and discuss these strategies in relation to the text.

Modifications for Years 4-6 Thinking Clouds are a hands on resource

That reverses the stop and think card

process and reinforces the reading strategies

that students are using.

• Each thinking cloud acts as a visual prompt in relation to reading strategies.

• Some of the strategies that can be put on thinking clouds are: summarising, determining importance, visualising, making inferences, analysing the author’s purpose, asking questions and making connections.

Thinking Clouds

(Second Grade Shenanigans, 2011)

Why is it useful? • ‘It helps students learn to monitor

their thinking as they read which improves their comprehension skills.

• It teaches students to reread a sentence and read ahead to clarify while also looking for context clues to make sense of what they are reading.

• It slows down the reading process and allows students to monitor their understanding of a text as they are reading’ (Reading Rockets, 2012).

Learning Goal & Success Criteria

Learning Goal Participants are able to understand, explain and effectively model the think-aloud strategy. Success Criteria • Participants will be able to:

– Describe the think-aloud strategy, – Explain why the think-aloud strategy is a

useful means of teaching reading comprehension,

– Demonstrate the think-aloud strategy effectively.