Mrs. Concepcion

Now I lay me down to rest.I pray I pass tomorrow’s test.If I should die before I wake,that’s one less test I’ll have to take.

A think-aloud of reading is creating a record, either

through writing or talking aloud, of the Strategic

decision-making and interpretive processes of going

through a text, reporting everything the reader is aware

of noticing, doing, seeing, feeling, asking, and

understanding as she reads. A think-aloud involves

talking about the reading strategies you are using and

the content of the piece you are reading.Dr. Jeffrey D. Wilhelm, Improving Comprehension with Think-Aloud Strategies, 2001, p. 19

Purpose for a Think Aloud

Make picture in your mindStop and reread to clarifyMake connection to storyAsk questionsLook at story structure and genreStudy author’s style and word choiceFeel what is happeningVerbalize confusion when other strategies do not work

Self-Assessment: Think-Aloud Strategies

Never Sometimes Often Always

Make a prediction

Ask a question

Clarify something

Make a comment

Make a connection

Figure out if I need to reread

Ask myself if I understand what I’ve read

Make mental pictures (visualize)

Compare what is being learned now to what has been learned previously

Good Readers vs. Poor ReadersGood Readers Poor Readers Often Do Not

Activate prior knowledgeSet a purpose for readingDecode textMake a personal connection to textMake predictionsVisualizeAsk questionsMonitor understandingSummarizeApply what they learned

Draw on background knowledge as they readMake predictions as they readVisualize the events of a text as they readRecognize confusion as they read;Recognize a text's structure or organization as they readIdentify or recognize a purpose for readingMonitor their strategy use according to the purpose for reading the text; In other words, students do not necessarily think while they are reading

Informational Text Features

What to look for when reading informational text:Headings and subheadingsCaptionsphotographs, pictures, illustrationsdiagramscharts and graphsbold, highlighted and italicized textparentheses, dashes