Karen

Anderson
Think Aloud Reading
Strategy for
Mathematics

The Think Aloud Reading

Strategy
The teacher models reading material from their subject by reading it out loud.
While they are reading, they discuss what they are thinking, incorporating
other reading strategies, like making connections, checking comprehension
and asking questions.

This models how and when to use strategies

It also shows students that teachers must work to comprehend text as well
Can be paired with other strategies (think-pair-share, checking
comprehension)

Think Alouds as Assessments

After it has been modelled and practiced, students can be asked to do
think alouds.
May be helpful to students with learning disabilities, or students who are
struggling with the material

Allows tacit knowledge to be made explicit, can be a sort of formative

assessment

How to do a Think Aloud

rehearse a model one

challenge the students to bring in difficult pieces from real life to try to
stump you, so they can watch what it is like to really work through a
difficult piece

emphasize that sometimes you have to re-read, sometimes you have to

slow down, and sometimes you even have to write stuff out!

Math -The Dreaded Word

Problems
Jim built a pig pen that is 8 feet wide and has an area of 48 sq ft. Every night
he checks the pen by walking around the entire pen. How many feet does he
walk to inspect the entire pen?

Think Aloud Worksheet

Jim built a pig pen that is 8 feet
wide and has an area of 48 sq ft.
Every night he checks the pen by
walking around the entire pen. How
many feet does he walk to inspect
the entire pen?

Question

Answer

What does the

question ask for?

How many feet does

he walk to inspect the
entire pen?
(perimeter!)

What information do I
need?

What information do I
have?

To find perimeter, need

all the sides the pen.
We have the width,
now need the length.

Width of pig pen = 8ft

Area of pig pen = 48sq
ft

How is this information

related to the answer
we need?

Area = length x width

Does my answer make

sense?

Length = 6ft, which is

in ft and 8 x 6 = 48.

Other questions:

48 sq ft = length x 8 ft

Ultimate Goal: Think Aloud -in

Your Head!
We want to have students internalize the strategies and questions
What does this mean?
What is this asking for?
What else do I know about this?
Why did someone write this?
What is the first step?
How can I check if this answer is right?
Does this seem right?

Sources
Zemelman, S., Daniels, H., Hyde, A. Best Practice - Bringing Standards to Life in Americas
Classrooms. Heinemann (2012).
TeachHub.com, Teaching Strategies: Think Alouds.
http://www.teachhub.com/teaching-strategies-think-alouds, accessed 3/28/16.
INQUIRE, Math Think Aloud.http://nycdoeit.airws.org/pdf/Math%20Think%20Aloud.pdf), accessed
3/26/16
Henjes, Lisa M., "The Use of Think-Aloud Strategies to Solve Word Problems" (2007). Summative
Projects for MA Degree. Paper 11. http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/mathmidsummative/11