Think-Aloud                                                 

                         An Instructional Strategy for Focusing on Comprehension

       This strategy is especially helpful for English language learners as they incorporate thinking, in English, about texts.

 

 

By using this strategy the instructor will demonstrate to individuals or the class, how they go about thinking about what they are reading through modeling their own thinking processes.

 

Choose a short piece of text.

Think-Alouds are most effective when they are focused and well paced. A brief Think-Aloud delivered using a passage of one to four paragraphs will make more impact because student interest is maintained. As well, it prevents the temptation to model too many strategies.

 

Let the text tell you what to do.

Don’t plan to think aloud using cold text, because your teaching points will be unfocused. Read the text several times and make notes about the comprehension strategies you are using to understand. These will provide you with ideas for the content of your think-aloud. Annotate the text so you will have something to refer to as you read.

 

Keep your Think-Alouds authentic.

It can be a little disconcerting to say aloud what’s going on in your head. Most teachers adopt a conversational tone that mirrors the informal language people use when they are thinking. An overly academic tone will sound contrived. It’s better to say, “Hey-when I read this part about the penguins, right away I saw a penguin in my mind,” rather than, “I am metacognitively aware and activated my visualizing strategy to formulate an image of a penguin as I read that paragraph.”

 

Think like a scientist, mathematician, historian, artist, literary critic…

Your shared reading texts are chosen because they have content value. Thinking aloud does not mean that everyone suddenly has to be a reading or English teacher. Make your think-alouds authentic by telling students how you process text through the lens of your content expertise. This elevates the think-aloud because you are showing them how your understanding of content text is influenced by what you know about the content.

 

Tell them what you did.

Using an authentic voice doesn’t mean you can’t name the strategy. Tell your students what strategy you used to help you comprehend. This allows them to begin to form schemas about reading comprehension. Underline or highlight words or phrases that helped you understand and encourage students to do likewise, if possible.

 

Resist the urge to “over think.”

The meaning of the passage should not be sacrificed for the sake of the think-aloud. Avoid inserting so many think-alouds into the reading that the intended message is lost. Fewer well-crafted think-alouds will have far more impact than a stream-of-consciousness rap that leaves the students bewildered by what just happened.