Think-Alouds Based on the text: Improving Comprehension with Think-Aloud Strategies Jeffrey D. Wilhelm, Ph.D. By: Brittany Storch, Lauren Brechtel, Ally Kotz, Hillary Long, and Kristi Tamasitis

What are Think-Alouds? “Think-alouds in reading is creating a record, either through writing or talking aloud, of the strategic decision-making and interpreting process of going through a text, reporting everything the reader is aware of noticing, doing, seeing, feeling, asking, and understanding as he or she reads.” “Think-alouds are approximate duplicates of what the student actually thought about during the reading.”

Think-Alouds Help Teachers… Deepen the awareness of the reading process Help model these strategies Helps assess students and plan instruction Know what in text confuses students; assess strategies; diagnosis problems Support readers’ monitoring their own comprehension

Think-Alouds Help Students… Understand reading to makes sense Move beyond the literal meaning of the text Learn how to read using different strategies independently

Think-Alouds Being Modeled Teacher performs think-aloud Teacher conducts think-aloud with student engagement Students do think-aloud; teacher monitors (Gradual release of responsibility)

General Process Think-Alouds General processes are the things that all readers need to master before moving on to more difficult text tasks.

Setting Purposes for Reading Why am I reading this? What am I hoping to find out? What am I hoping to prove?

Making Predictions What does the title/cover make me think of? What do you think will happen next? Why do you think X did what he/she did? What do you think X will do now? Was I right?

Making personal connections Is this similar to something that I have seen or experienced? How does this relate to my own life? Can this help me get through a problem or understand something?

Visualizing Close your eyes and think about what is being read. What do you see? What is happening?

Comprehension Monitoring Does what I am reading make sense? Does what I am reading fit in with what I already know or is it something new?

Using Fix-Up Strategies to Address Confusion and Repair Comprehension Re-Read Look at the Picture (If Any) Read Ahead Figure Out Unknown Words Look at Sentence Structure Make a Mental Image Define Purpose for Reading Ask Questions Make Predictions Stop to Think/Summarize Make Connections Ask for Help

Steps of General Process Think-Alouds Step One: Choose a text that is both interesting to students and within their Zone of Proximal Development Step Six: After several think-alouds using the above steps, create a list with the students about what cues were used for the strategy and post them. Step Two: Explain what the point of what a think-aloud is in general (i.e. how it is conducted) as well as what this specific one is targeting. Step Seven: Assist students in identifying others areas of life in which the strategy could be useful. Step Three: Give students a purpose for reading. Step Eight: Use a variety of follow-up lessons to encourage the gradual release of responsibility. Step Four: Begin reading the text, pausing at key moments to verbalize thoughts regarding the strategy being highlighted. Step Five: Have students determine and underline the words/phrases that were used with the strategy and discuss them.

Free Response and Cued Think-Alouds QAR (Question-Answer Relationship) Questions Literal “Right There” Questions Inferring “Think and Search” Questions Personal Experience Connection “Author-and-Me” Questions Life and World General “On Your Own” Questions Visual Think-Alouds Encourage students to draw during the think-aloud Individual responses (symbols, pictures, etc.)

Why Do We Use Free-Response and Cued Think-Alouds? “Students see how they read, share their characteristic ways of reading with classmates, recognize that others read differently from the way they do, and realize that expert readers call upon a wide variety of strategies at the same time – strategies that they may wish to appropriate and use for themselves” (Wilhelm, 2001, p. 68).

Rules of Notice for Character: Titles Names and Nicknames Introductions Problems Actions Physical Description Clothing Way They Talk/Language They Use Typical Setting or Surroundings Friends or People They Hang With What Others Say About Them Tastes/Likes/Dislikes Character Thoughts Character Changes General Rules of Notice: Titles Beginnings Climaxes/Key Details Extended Descriptions Changes e.g. in Direction, Setting, Point of View Repetition Surprises and Ruptures Endings

Visual Think-Alouds Engaged readers use visual components to bring their own life into the reading. Picture mapping, mind movies, symbolic story representation etc. Learning Disabled are very visual learners Have students share their visual think-alouds- why did they draw the pictures the way they did? Reveals the student’s thought process. Visualization check sheet for readers (pg. 120) Individual use

Modeling Think-Alouds Teacher does/Students watch Teacher does/Students help Students do/ Teacher helps Teacher does/Students must help

New Genres Do your own Study students

Task Specific vs. Text Type Irony symbolism Text-Type Compare-contrast Cause- effect

Talk Backs Enact procedural knowledge of a subject Reflect knowledge of topic Connect with prior knowledge Recognize structures and conventions Reference to the process of reading Retelling

Important Genres New stories Arguments Authentic Connections Reading strategies Identify details, summarizing meaning Arguments Most important Advertisements

Talk Back With News Article What is the topic of the article? What important ideas are expressed about the topic (5W &H) Does it clearly make known how this event/issue related to other events (past/future)? How does it help think about what is important? Is the story coherent? What strategies am I using to create meaning? What tools am I using to critique the structure, writing, content?

Performance-Based Instruction “Think-alouds can motivate effective assessment tools.” “…in-process look at readers engaged in comprehensive activity.”

Why Should We Use Think-Alouds as Teachers?

Quickly assess students Assess students over time To… Quickly assess students Assess students over time Inform our instruction Homogeneously group students Self-assess Collect data Communicate with parents For… Student peer-assessment Student-teacher portfolios

“The premise behind it [think-alouds] is simple: the most important thing we can teach our students is how to learn” (Wilhelm, 2001, p. 7).