Strategy #6: Think-Alouds
GENERAL SUMMARY:
Reading is not something t\hat comes naturally; it is something that takes practice and time, yet we still don't know an exact formula as to how to teach reading. Each mind learns to read in a different way, and Think-Alouds are a great way to model good reading as a pre-reading activity. As teachers, we are not only sources of information, but models of effective learning. It's easy to forget that we too are readers and we know what it takes to become a strong reader. Think-Alouds provide teachers with an opportunity to share the way they read with their students. This is something I would use with all students, especially at the beginning of the year when students are adjusting to the new grade level. This will help students understand the importance of the questioning while reading. It also teaches metacognition which is very important when learning how to read.
HOW TO IMPLEMENT THINK-ALOUDS
Choose a text that students will be reading, such as a novel, poem, essay etc. While reading it, describe out loud what is going on in your mind. Are you asking questions? Are you confused? Which words are helping you understand what you are reading? Show the students how you, a strong reader, reads through a difficult text. This is to help students take control of their cognitive processes. This is to get the students to think about what actually happens in their mind when they read. Make sure to provide examples of effective reading skills as well as ineffective reading skills, so students can understand the difference.
Reading is not something t\hat comes naturally; it is something that takes practice and time, yet we still don't know an exact formula as to how to teach reading. Each mind learns to read in a different way, and Think-Alouds are a great way to model good reading as a pre-reading activity. As teachers, we are not only sources of information, but models of effective learning. It's easy to forget that we too are readers and we know what it takes to become a strong reader. Think-Alouds provide teachers with an opportunity to share the way they read with their students. This is something I would use with all students, especially at the beginning of the year when students are adjusting to the new grade level. This will help students understand the importance of the questioning while reading. It also teaches metacognition which is very important when learning how to read.
HOW TO IMPLEMENT THINK-ALOUDS
Choose a text that students will be reading, such as a novel, poem, essay etc. While reading it, describe out loud what is going on in your mind. Are you asking questions? Are you confused? Which words are helping you understand what you are reading? Show the students how you, a strong reader, reads through a difficult text. This is to help students take control of their cognitive processes. This is to get the students to think about what actually happens in their mind when they read. Make sure to provide examples of effective reading skills as well as ineffective reading skills, so students can understand the difference.
Here is a link to a video of Think-Aloud demonstration: http://teachertube.com/viewVideo.php?video_id=116101
ASSESSMENT:
This is another type of formative assessment. Once you have modeled how to read, pass it off to the students. Let them read and think-aloud while they read either in front of the class (which can be daunting, so only make sure your students are comfortable with this before doing it) or they can pair up and think-aloud to their peers while the teacher visits each pair or group and listens to how the students are reading.
This is another type of formative assessment. Once you have modeled how to read, pass it off to the students. Let them read and think-aloud while they read either in front of the class (which can be daunting, so only make sure your students are comfortable with this before doing it) or they can pair up and think-aloud to their peers while the teacher visits each pair or group and listens to how the students are reading.
SUPPORTING EVIDENCE/RESEARCH:
"As a basic foundation upon which to build a variety of other language arts skills, Think-Aloud Mysteries show much promise. For example, research has shown that students have trouble determining important facts and summarizing text material (Brown & Day, 1983; Rinehart et al., 1986). Furthermore, Think-Aloud Mysteries not only help develop comprehension strategies but also provide a first step toward learning how to determine the hierarchical importance of various facts within a text passage-the foundation of any successful summary, outline, or studying approach."Think-Aloud Mysteries: Using structured, sentence-by-sentence text passages to teach comprehension strategies
Lynn Alleen Smith. The Reading Teacher 59. 8 (May 2006): 764-773.
"This think aloud method has proven to be fruitful in previous research. Andringa (1995a), for example, used think alouds to study the strategies that readers use in the process of meaning-making for complex literary narratives. She found that expert readers of literature displayed a wider repertoire of interpretive activities during reading than did beginning readers or novices, whose responses were in general less elaborate and less complex."
Literary Reading Activities of Good and Weak Students: A Think Aloud Study
Janssen, Tanja; Braaksma, Martine; Rijlaarsdam, Gert. European Journal of Psychology of Education 21. 1 (2006): 35-52.
"As a basic foundation upon which to build a variety of other language arts skills, Think-Aloud Mysteries show much promise. For example, research has shown that students have trouble determining important facts and summarizing text material (Brown & Day, 1983; Rinehart et al., 1986). Furthermore, Think-Aloud Mysteries not only help develop comprehension strategies but also provide a first step toward learning how to determine the hierarchical importance of various facts within a text passage-the foundation of any successful summary, outline, or studying approach."Think-Aloud Mysteries: Using structured, sentence-by-sentence text passages to teach comprehension strategies
Lynn Alleen Smith. The Reading Teacher 59. 8 (May 2006): 764-773.
"This think aloud method has proven to be fruitful in previous research. Andringa (1995a), for example, used think alouds to study the strategies that readers use in the process of meaning-making for complex literary narratives. She found that expert readers of literature displayed a wider repertoire of interpretive activities during reading than did beginning readers or novices, whose responses were in general less elaborate and less complex."
Literary Reading Activities of Good and Weak Students: A Think Aloud Study
Janssen, Tanja; Braaksma, Martine; Rijlaarsdam, Gert. European Journal of Psychology of Education 21. 1 (2006): 35-52.