The document discusses using think alouds in elementary classrooms to improve reading comprehension. It defines think alouds as a strategy where teachers model their thinking process while reading aloud. Research shows that think alouds help students understand they can comprehend texts more when teachers demonstrate different strategies. The document provides guidance on how to implement think alouds, including identifying a strategy, modeling it, and having students practice the strategy in small groups with support. It emphasizes teaching students to monitor their own comprehension is the ultimate goal of think alouds.

1. Using Think Alouds in
the Elementary Classroom
Tess James
Original Contribution
American College of Education
July, 2019

2. What is a Think Aloud?
A think aloud is a strategy that is designed to help students monitor their
thinking as they are reading. The students observe the teacher modeling a
comprehension strategy while reading aloud a mentor text, passage, or
poem. While a teacher is modeling the strategy, he or she may re-read a
sentence or look for context clues to make sense of what they read.

3. What The Research Says…
• Cathy & Israel (2004) state it has been proven that
students realize they can read with greater
understanding when a teacher uses think alouds and
demonstrates their thinking.
• Baumann, Seifert-Kessell, & Jones (1992) report that by
verbalizing their thought processes and modeling fix up
strategies to address comprehension break-downs,
teachers can help students develop higher thinking and
comprehension skills.
• Wilhelm (2001) stated that when teachers model their
thinking, children borrow the strategies they saw the
teacher demonstrate and use them while reading
independently.

4. Think Aloud vs. Read Aloud
Read Aloud Read Aloud
• Teach or introduce a strategy
• Ask for feedback
• Pre-planning not required
• Students practice skills in small
groups
• Model using a strategy
• No feedback from student
• Requires pre-planning

5. How To Use Think Alouds
• Identify the strategy you want to model with your students. Choose a mentor text that
will compliment this strategy. Read the story before you introduce it to your students, and
flag stopping points where you will model the strategy.
• The video from The Balanced Literacy Diet (2011) demonstrates a teacher walking
through a whole group think aloud from a biography. During this lesson, the teacher has
targeted more than one comprehension strategy to focus on. The comprehension
strategies that she discusses are on display in the reading area for children to reference
not only while she is reading, but during independent reading as well.
Suggested strategies for early elementary:
• Decoding
• Predicting
• Connecting
• Visualizing
• Questioning
• Summarizing

6. How To Use Think Alouds
After the whole group lesson, provide students the opportunity to
practice the strategy in small group instruction. In a small group,
reintroduce the strategy and provide students with sticky notes so
they can stop and record their thinking.
• In this video, Jennifer Serravallo (2015) is shown modeling a
specific comprehension strategy during a small group lesson. She
introduces the strategy inferring before modeling the strategy
using a text. As a group they read the text together and engage in
shared practice of applying the strategy.
• After practicing the strategy, students select a book from their
independent reading box and try the strategy. During their
practice, the teacher provides support to each individual student
as they are reading. At the end of the session, the teacher reflects
on their understanding and provides feedback on what they
noticed.

7. Reflection
When teachers give students insight to their inner dialogue as they are
reading, they are modeling how readers solve comprehension
problems. When students practice this strategy with teachers and their
peers in a small group, they gradually develop the skills to solve
comprehension problems on their own. Teaching students to monitor
their own comprehension is the ultimate goal of teaching students how
to read!

8. Discussion Questions
• Does your team currently have a scope and sequence
for when comprehension strategies are introduced?
• What resources do you need to start implementing
successful think-alouds in your classroom?
• Can you identify a way that the think-aloud strategy
could be beneficial in mathematics instruction?
• What other questions do you have?
Thank you for listening!

9. Additional Resources
https://www.scholastic.com/teachers/articles/teaching-
content/how-implement-read-aloud-strategies-your-class/
This website provides guidelines, checklists, and assessment
tools to help you get started with think alouds in your
classroom.
http://www.readwritethink.org/classroom-resources/lesson-
plans/building-reading-comprehension-through-
139.html?tab=3#tabs
This lesson plan is for using a think aloud with poetry.
https://thisreadingmama.com/modeling-comprehension-
strategies-book-list/
This website lists mentor texts to complement comprehension
strategies.

10. Baumann, J. F., & And Others. (1992). Effect of Think-Aloud Instruction on Elementary Students’
Comprehension Monitoring Abilities. Journal of Reading Behavior, 24(2), 143–72. Retrieved
from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=sso&db=eric&AN=EJ4470
36&site=eds-live&scope=site
Cathy, C. B., & Israel, S. E. (2004). The ABCs of performing highly effective think-alouds. The
Reading Teacher, 58(2), 154-167. Retrieved from https://go.openathens.net/redirector/ace.ed
u/log in?url=https://search.proquest.com/docview/203278375?accountid=31683
The Balanced Literacy Diet. (2011). Think alouds: Modeling ways to think about text. Retrieved
April 21, 2019, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G0ZHimY5YZo
Wilhelm, J. D. (2001). Think-alouds boost reading comprehension. Instructor (1999), 111(4), 26-
28. Retrieved from https://go.openathens.net/redirector/ace.edu/login?url=https://s
earch.proquest.com/docview/224397384?accountid=31683
References