Lesson 2 — Component 2: Shared Reading

Strategic Thinking on Display

The think aloud can be used to model strategic thinking processes of reading like predicting, summarizing, and monitoring comprehension. Other types of strategic thinking that can be demonstrated during a think aloud include

• Previewing the text.
• Describing a mental image.
• Asking and answering a self-generated question.
• Making a text connection.  
• Making an inference.
• Verbalizing a confusing point and showing how to monitor comprehension.
• Demonstrating fix-up strategies like rereading, self-correcting, or figuring out a word from context.

Think aloud modeling is most effective when it is explicit, flexible, and uses strategies that are based on the text and your students' learning needs.