STEP-BY-STEP PROCESS
- Select a short passage to read to tutors. As you read,
- Make predictions and develop hypotheses.
- “I think this is about….”
- “I wonder if….”
- “It looks like…is going to happen.”
- Describe visual images.
- “I can see a boat on the sand….”
- “It’s a rowboat with no paint and it’s worn by the weather.”
- Share an analogy or make links to prior knowledge.
- “I remember the large dark green boat we used at our family reunion. It was such a heavy boat that I couldn’t row it.”
- Monitor confusing points.
- “I didn’t get that piece….”
- “I don’t understand this sentence. I have to go back and check that.”
- “What was that I read before? Where did I read that part again?”
- Use fix-up strategies or self-correction.
- “Oh, I thought the boat was on the beach but really it’s out in the water. I’ll have to reread that. I think it’s a lake. Maybe it’s the ocean. If I read on maybe I will know where the boat is.”
- Have tutors pair up and ask each tutor to select a different reading passage.
- One tutor will read his passage first and think out loud as shown in the
example step . Remind tutors that they may need to slow down to catch
all their thoughts because, as good readers, the thoughts will come
automatically, subtly. The other tutor will record the first tutor’s thoughts.
- Have tutors switch roles.
- Once everyone has finished, ask tutors if they were surprised at what came
into their mind as they read. What type of strategies did they use to make
sense of their reading?
- Let tutors know they can use this strategy with their learners. Tutors and learners should have different reading material. When selecting reading material for the learners, tutors need to choose material familiar to the learners.
- It would be a good idea for tutors to make recordings of their learners thinking aloud, and to include them in the learners’ portfolios. The learners could then listen to their earlier think-alouds and see how far they have progressed.
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