THINK-ALOUDS (pg 121 - 123)

Every teacher is looking for ways to make their students better readers, thinkers, and problem solvers. A think-aloud is categorized as a before reading activity, as a way to show your students an effective way to think though different reading and problems. The professional development book 50 Instructional Routines to Develop Content Literacy describes a productive reader as someone who asks themselves questions, monitor their own understanding, creates visuals, draws inferences, and makes connections to other things they have learned. Some students are able to do this on their own, others need this process modeled for them and explained. What a think-aloud does is makes your thinking process of different situations observable to the students. Which they can then model in their own way. 

Think-Aloud Process:

1. Read a short version, STOP

2. Step aside from the text

3. VERBALIZE to the students what you are doing

4. Repeat for other situations when you see fit

This process can show students that reading is not passive and that we are in control of what we understand. 

Other Subjects:

This is most easily used in English and Social Studies when given stories and short passages. But it can also be used in Math and Science classes. In my math classes I use think-alouds almost every day. I always state the process that I am doing out loud and stop when I see key items that will help students make decisions. I believe that a lot of teachers do this naturally, they just may not know that it is actually a literacy strategy!