Using THE Think Aloud TO Teach Reading Strategies IN College Courses Jessica Darkenwald-DeCola February 13, 2013

Challenges for College Level Students High level, discipline specific texts that may include unfamiliar language and structure that makes comprehension difficult More specialized and discipline-specific expectations for comprehension For these reasons a student who may not have struggled comprehending text earlier in their schooling, might very well struggle in college when introduced to new content area reading

Successful College Readers read with a purpose know how they use strategies when they read monitor their reading comprehension use a variety of reading methods

“Because meaning does not exist in text, but rather must be actively constructed, instruction in how to employ strategies is necessary to improve comprehension” (Snow, 2002, p.32)

Best Practices for Higher Education Explicit instruction A “gradual release” of responsibility that includes the use of scaffolds, such as teacher modeling through think-aloud (Block & Duffy, 2001: Duke & Pearson, 2002; Keene & Zimmerman, 2007; Rosenshine & Meister, 1992). Focus on metacognition (Almasi & Hart, 2011; Keene & Zimerman, 2007).

Purpose of My Study To explore if students will use reading comprehension strategies more frequently and effectively after explicit instruction of monitoring comprehension through teacher and student think-alouds. To find out whether or not students feel that the strategies have improved their comprehension of the course texts and their ability to write about them.

READING COMPREHENSION STRATEGIES Questioning: Identifying information, themes and ideas that are central and important to the reading. Create questions based on the central ideas, themes, and important information. Summarizing – Identify the important information, themes, and ideas in the text. Using this information, create a “clear and concise statement that communicates the essential meaning of the text” (Doolittle et al. 107). Clarifying – Identify unclear, difficult, or unfamiliar aspects of a text such as awkward sentence or passage structure, unfamiliar vocabulary, unclear references, or obscure concepts (Doolittle et al. 107). Strategies such as re-reading, putting the text in context, and using outside resources (like a dictionary, thesaurus, or the internet) can help to clarify difficult information. Integration: What connections can you make between the text that you just read and other sections of the text? What connections can you make between the text that you have just read and other readings in the course (or outside the course)? Elaboration: What connections can you make between the text and your own experience and knowledge?

Other Strategies Monitoring Comprehension Predicting Visualizing Contextualizing Making Inferences Corroborating Drawing Conclusions Synthesizing

Think – Alouds Encourages metacognitive thinking An instructional tool – model thought process used while reading – makes invisible visible Also a strategy for student – alone, in pairs, part of “gradual release” – eventually internalized Useful to model variety of thinking processes and strategies – might focus on one or multiple Does not need to be time consuming – show the trick – remind students to use – checking work

DEMONSTRATION

You are Experts in Discipline-Based Reading Identify the reading skills that you use automatically in the reading required in your discipline - metacognitive strategies, habits of mind – I focused on monitoring for meaning, but you can use a think aloud for any process Model for students – thinking out loud while reading for students can make an invisible processes visible – students take notes or use checklist “Gradual Release” – model supported activities independence

Some Ideas for Identifying Strategies to Model Read texts from your own discipline – alone or with colleagues. What are the strategies that you use to make meaning from the text? What do your students need to do? Read texts from other disciplines. What do you learn about the difference between the reading process in a different discipline as compared to your own? Make lists of the strategies students need to successfully make meaning from the texts in your course.

Discipline – Specific Example

Anderson, A. & Kim, Y.J. (2011a). Reading across the curriculum: A framework for improving the reading abilities and habits of college students. Journal of College Literacy and Learning, 37, 29-40. Doolittle, P., Hicks, D., Tripplett, C.F., Nicholas, W.D., & Young, C.A. (2006). Reciprocal teaching for reading comprehension in higher education: A strategy for fostering the deeper understanding of texts. International Journal of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education 17(2), 106-118. Kucan, L. & Beck, I.L. (1997). Thinking aloud and reading comprehension research: Inquiry, instruction, and social interaction. Review of Educational Research, 67(3), 271 – 299. Lei, S.A., Rhinehart, P.J., Howard, H.A., & Cho, J.K. (2010). Strategies for improving reading comprehension among college students. Reading Improvement, 47(1), 30-42. Pearson, D.P., Moje, E., & Greenleaf, C. (2010). Literacy and science: Each in the service of the other. Science, 328, 459-463. Rosenshine, B., & Meister, C. (1992). The use of scaffolds for teaching higher-level cognitive strategies. Educational Leadership, 49(7), 26-33. Taraban, R., Rynearson, K., & Kerr, M. (2000). College students’ academic performance and self-reports of comprehension strategy use. Reading Psychology, 21, 283-308. http://teacher.scholastic.com/reading/bestpractices/comprehension/flowchartofbehavior.pdf

Some Results of my Practitioner Study

Findings: Pre and Post Test Nine students scores increased Four students who did not all had high pre-test scores Lowest scorers went up 33-60 points

Findings: Self-Reflection Sixteen students completed them. Fifteen students specifically said their approach to reading had changed, and all students named at least one strategy that worked well for them and/or they planned on using in preparation for the final. Re-reading and Highlighting was mentioned the most as a strategy used. One student described my introductory lesson as strategy/approach to writing she found most helpful.