Think-Alouds
Overview
Incorporating think-alouds, or verbalizing thinking while reading or working through a new concept, can be a powerful way to help learners explore disciplinary texts, learn new skills, and retain content. When educators explicitly think aloud while reading a complex text or introducing a new skill or concept, they model the skills needed to ensure comprehension and provide students with authentic ways to use strategies, increasing Core Academic Literacies. It is especially important when using read and think aloud strategies with older students that teachers employ interactive questioning techniques to engage learners in the process and monitor their understanding of the strategies. Students' reading comprehension can increase when think-alouds are used to model more complex texts, including disciplinary texts like primary sources or scientific reports. This can be particularly important for multilingual students and those with learning disabilities.
Example: Use This Strategy in the Classroom
Watch this high school history teacher model reading primary sources for students. The students are provided with the texts and encouraged to follow the teacher through the process of dissecting the source and creating meaning.
Design It into Your Product
Additional Resources
Additional examples, research, and professional development. These resources are possible representations of this strategy, not endorsements.
Factors Supported by this Strategy
More Instructional Approaches Strategies
Flipped learning is when the delivery of traditional content (i.e., lectures, videos) occurs outside of the classroom, allowing class time to be used for more active and application-based activities.
Multimodal teaching and learning provide opportunities for students to engage with the same content through different sensory modalities, such as visual, auditory and tactile.
Retrieval practice requires students to access information, or get information “out” from Long-term memory in order to support better retention and understanding.
A strengths-based approach is one where educators intentionally identify, communicate, and harness students' assets, across many aspects of the whole learner, in order to empower them to flourish.
