Using Think-Alouds in an Advanced ELL Classroom to Increase Student Awareness and Use of Reading Strategies Or Think-Alouds are Awesome! Summer Institute, August 2015 Renada Rutmanis

Agenda Survey of Reading Strategies/Warm-up Discussion Introduction to Think-Alouds and Research Think-Aloud Modeling and Practice Additional Resources

Warm-up Please complete the Survey of Reading Strategies – no need to calculate totals on back Turn to a neighbor and discuss – One reading strategy you personally use a lot – One reading strategy you explicitly teach your students

The problem Every class is going to have readers who are more successful and less successful. – As a teacher, how do you determine what isn’t working for the less successful readers? – For the student, how does a student become aware of: When understanding has broken down? Strategies that can help repair understanding?

One answer Metacognitive training through the use of think-alouds – Successful readers: Monitor comprehension as they read – ask themselves, do I understand this? Does this make sense? Are aware of available reading strategies Use strategies with flexibility – Think-alouds Increase awareness of both the need for and the use of reading strategies

Think-alouds Think-alouds ask students to verbally describe their thinking process while reading a text Serve multiple purposes: – Show teachers how learners are or aren’t processing information Examples: student that spends too much time using background information on timed tests; student who would narrow test answers down to two and then choose the closest one – Increase student awareness of reading strategies Can be helpful for both proficient and less proficient readers

Research design 8-week study conducted in an Advanced ELL classroom Students had CASAS scores from ; a few were on TABE but scores were less than 5 Took SORS before and after study

In Class Weekly sessions of Think-alouds – Large group modeling by teacher – Large group modeling by students – small-group practice – Pre and post reading reflection – Creation of Reading Strategies Chart (show chart)

SORS Data Pre- Test showed that all students already had either a medium or high level of strategy use – Average pre-test score was a 3.4 Average post-survey score was 3.85 SORS data showed that 68 percent of students increased frequency of using reading strategies during the study. It could not provide data on how often the strategy chosen was appropriate for the task.

Other Insights At the start of the study, students seemed aware of reading strategies in general, as a concept, but seemed to rely on the same few, basic strategies to help them in class, primarily dictionary use Over time, students used more strategies but still struggled to decide which strategies to use for a particular reading Student engagement was high during think-aloud sessions

Large Group Think-Aloud Examples Caveats: – First need to create a supportive, comfortable environment for students – Start with easier readings – Rely on volunteers – Model making lots of mistakes What reading strategies did you hear? – Teacher model: Pillow, Salem’s Lot – Students model: Richard Cory, Map test question

Small Groups Make groups of 2-3 people Complete your pre-reading planning sheet Take turns completing your think-aloud When everyone is finished, work through the structured discussion questions Repeat the process with the second reading, if time

Large Group Share – How did you feel while doing the think-alouds? – What would be important to do before introducing think-alouds to your students? – What are some challenges you see to using think- alouds in class?

Resources for more information about think-alouds and other resources Reading Strategy bookmarks (show example) -implement-read-aloud-strategies-your-class -implement-read-aloud-strategies-your-class resources/lesson-plans/building-reading- comprehension-through-139.html?tab=1#tabs resources/lesson-plans/building-reading- comprehension-through-139.html?tab=1#tabs

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