Teaching students to maintain an internal dialogue with the author and the text while reading is vitally important. “Talking to the text” significantly increases reader comprehension and also promotes retention. However, this is not a skill acquired by osmosis. It requires effective modeling using the Think-Aloud strategy.
Good readers are adept at practicing many metacognitive strategies. That’s a great word that means “think about thinking.” Research shows that 50% of reading comprehension is based on what the reader brings to the text in the form of prior knowledge and self-talk. Students who practice the self-management strategies modeled by teachers who use Think-Alouds have better reading comprehension than those who do not.
Here’s how to set up effective Think-Aloud with your students:
1. Select a short reading with a beginning, middle, and end.
2. Tell students that they are about to enter a strange new world, that is the world of your thoughts as a reader. Tell them that your thoughts will not be the same as theirs.
3. Tell them that reading is not just pronouncing words; it is to make sense of what the author has written. Tell them that they can improve their reading comprehension.
4. Start reading the text for a few lines, and then modify your voice (raise the pitch, turn the volume down, or use an accent) to model what you are thinking. Stop and explain what the voice alteration meant and keep this voice alteration constant throughout the Think-Aloud.
5. Keep your thoughts concise and focused while reading. Don’t ramble on with personal anecdotes. How much more in the text than in your personal connection with the text.
6. Don’t overdo Think-Aloud thoughts. Once every paragraph or two is correct. Do not interrupt the flow of the reading and lose sight of the textual meaning.
7. Talk with the text and with the author.
8. Ask students if they think they understood the text better because of their verbalized thoughts than reading passively without active thoughts. Your answer will be “Yes” if you have done effective Think Aloud.
9. Have students practice their own Think-Alouds in pairs.
10. Repeat Think-Alouds often with narrative and expository text.