THINK-ALOUDS

BY: XENIA STAMOUDIS

Building Reading Comprehension Through

Purpose

“To model for students the thought processes that take

place when difficult material is read. Teachersverbalize their thoughts while they are reading

orally. Students will understand comprehension

strategiesbetter because they can see how the mind can

respondto thinking through trouble spots and

constructingmeaning from text.”

Richard T. and Joanne L. Vacca

What is it?

It is very simple…

• You are asking students to say out loud what they arethinking about when they are reading. By doing this you are letting students know they are not alone in having to think their way through the problem-solvingprocess.

• As students think out loud, they learn how tolearn.

Importance and Making it Happen

• Think-alouds are used to model comprehension processes such as making predictions, creating images, linking information in text with prior knowledge, monitoring comprehension, and overcoming problems with word recognition or comprehension (Gunning)

• Teachers must model appropriate think aloud strategies. Once students are familiar with the strategy, they can be included in the think-aloud process.

When reading aloud, stop from time to time and orally complete sentences like these:

• So far, I’ve learned…• This made me think of…• That didn’t make sense…• I think____will happen next.• I reread that part because…• I was confused by…• I think the most important part was…• This is interesting because…• I wonder why...• I just thought of…

Teacher Modeling

Chrysanthemum by Kevin Henkes

"Chrysanthemum wilted. She did not think her name was absolutely perfect. She thought it was absolutely dreadful.”

Teacher thinking aloud: "Wilted. Hmm, I know that plants wilt when they don't have water (lean over in the chair as if to be a wilting flower). "Chrysanthemum wilted" must mean that she felt pretty bad about herself and pretty sad. Chrysanthemum is upset about her name because the other students are teasing her". (Teaching point- cause and effect- the students tease her and she no longer likes her name.)

Student Practice

Pair up and find a short passage to read in one of thefollowing stories:

The Three Little Pigs - by Paul Galdone

Ameila Bedelia Goes Camping - by Peggy Parish

A Chair For My Mother - by Vera B. Williams

Matthew and Tilly – by Rebecca C. Jones

There is a paper with hints as to what you can focus on.Verbalize your thoughts as you read and share with us.You will have 2-3 minutes to share your think aloud.

Use the following links to help you further understand and learn about Think-Alouds:

http://www.readwritethink.org/classroom-resources/lesson-plans/building-reading-comprehension-through-139.html

http://www.adlit.org/strategies/22735/

http://www.readingrockets.org/strategies/think_alouds

/

http://www.brighthubeducation.com/high-school-english-lessons/7018-you-are-special-think-aloud-lesson-plan

/

More Links

http://www.tantasqua.org/superintendent/profdevelopment/

etthinkalouds.html

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1598/RRQ.34.2.4/abstract

http://www.jstor.org/discover/10.2307/20201231?uid=3739656&uid=2&uid=4&uid=3739256&sid=

21101110500291

http://www.brighthubeducation.com/elementary-school-activities/6734-examples-of-think-aloud-lesson-plans/?cid=

parsely_rec

Think-Aloud Videos

Reading:http://bit.ly/rmRqKkhttp://bit.ly/oVaSH1

Math:http://bit.ly/osTUzlhttp://youtu.be/S3fCoJ5VDtchttp://youtu.be/lvQ3INPKhHE

Remember…

“Think alouds are intended for students to pause reflectively throughout their reading and gain further understanding of concepts and ideas related to the text.”