Using a Think-Aloud with Diverse Students: Three Primary

Grade Students Experience Chrysanthemum

Joann Marie Migyanka,
1,2
Carole Policastro,
1
and Guiqiu Lui
1
Many struggling readers, students with English as a second language, and children with
disabilities do not engage in the strategies that good readers use when reading for under-
standing. Reading comprehension depends upon the students ability to successfully use
strategies to monitor and control their own comprehension. Teachers need to help students
develop skills that will aid in reading comprehension. The think-aloud is one strategy that can
help struggling readers improve uency and comprehension. One of the most important
components to determine the success of the think-aloud is the teachers ability to model and
facilitate the think-aloud procedure. The teacher needs to have a basic understanding of what
is meant to be accomplished using this method. This article proles how three teachers model
and facilitate a think-aloud with three struggling readers.
KEY WORDS: children with disabilities; context clues; dierentiated; English as a second language;
genre; internal processes; metacomprehension; predicting; prior knowledge; reading comprehension; story
structure; struggling readers; think-aloud; visualizing; vocabulary.
Chrysanthemum thinks her name is absolutely
perfect. And then she started school....But when
Mrs. Chud took roll call, everyone giggled upon
hearing Chrysanthemums name....Youre named
after a flower! Chrysanthemum wilted. She did not
think her name was absolutely perfect. She thought
it was absolutely dreadful. (Henkes, 1991, p. 68)
Yubo chuckles to himself as he reads the passage
from Chrysanthemum (Henkes, 1991). He thinks her
name is too long and wonders why a person would
have the name of a ower, yet he nds the name to be
pretty. Watching Yubo read, one could see an array of
emotions as he personally connects with the text. His
face reects Chrysanthemums excitement, happiness,
sadness, isolation, and nally acceptance. At times he
smiles with delight and laughs out loud when Chry-
santhemum wore her vest with many pockets stued
with lucky charms, which Yubo thinks, is cereal. At
other points in the story he puzzles over the children
napping at school, eating macaroni and cheese with
ketchup and playing the game of Parcheesi. Yubo, a
second grade English as a Second Language (ESL)
student, is wrestling not only with unfamiliar vocab-
ulary but also with cultural dierences that are pre-
sented in the literature selection. Despite the
dierences there are many common threads woven
throughout the story with which he can relate.
Courtney, a rst grade student with a learning
disability, has English as her rst language, yet she
struggles with reading uency and comprehension.
Courtneys initial interaction with the text clearly
reveals her struggle with decoding. Courtney sees the
initial letter of the word and randomly selects any
word that begins with that letter. For example, she
says funny when she encounters ower and
1
Seton Hill University, Greensburg, PA.
2
Correspondence should be directed to Joann Marie Migyanka,
Seton Hill University, Box 431F, Seton Hill Drive, Greensburg,
PA 15601, USA; e-mail: migyanka@setonhill.edu
Early Childhood Education Journal, Vol. 33, No. 3, December 2005 ( 2006)
DOI: 10.1007/s10643-005-0045-z
171
1082-3301/05/1200-0171/0 2006 Springer ScienceBusiness Media, Inc.
water for want. Courtney replaces the words in the
text by her interpretation of the illustrations. She
says, Chrysanthemum is dancing in the yard with
her new dress. When in fact, the text is Chrysan-
themums mother reassuring her that she was beau-
tiful, pretty, and perfect. Courtney fails to make
meaningful connections to the story.
Callie is a second grade struggling reader who
has diculty with retaining prior instruction, is afraid
of failure, makes literal interpretations, and reads
word by word. Callies predictions are based on the
lively colors of the illustrations saying that she thinks
it is going to be a happy book. She thinks the story
is about a mouse that grew a giant ower. She says,
This story is about a mouse that grows the prize
winning ower and everyone wants her to grow one
for them. Her immediate response is to make literal
connections limited to the illustrations. Callie does
not engage in the reading strategies that are often
associated with good readers.
LITERACY DEVELOPMENT
The development of literacy in children is hin-
ged on reading comprehension. According to Zim-
mermann and Hutchins (2003), reading words
without understanding the meaning is just idle
babble. If children do not unlock the meaning they
will never read well or enjoy reading. Children who
are good readers use seven keys eortlessly and
uidly to make meaning and gain understanding of
the written text. The seven keys to comprehension
are (1) create mental images, (2) use background
knowledge, (3) ask questions, (4) make inferences,
(5) determine the most important ideas or themes,
(6) synthesize information, and (7) use x-up
strategies (Zimmermann & Hutchins, 2003). Good
readers use all seven key strategies whether they are
reading informational text or narratives and do so
within a few minutes of reading without much
thought. Teachers can support literacy development
by introducing children to quality literature and
using the seven key strategies to promote the love
for reading as students interact with and make
meaning of the text (Wilhelm, 2001).
CHILDRENS LITERATURE
Childrens literature plays a signicant role in
students literacy development. Literature provides
rich text and illustrations that expose children to a
kaleidoscope of images, genres and cultures.
According to Long and Gove (2003), childrens
imaginations in and out of the classroom can be
captured by immersing them in rich and provocative
literature that is challenging, arouses their interest,
and awakens in them a passion for reading and
writing. Childrens literature reects the dierent
maturing processes that children encounter during
their developmental stages of language, cognitive and
social and emotional development.
Childrens literature has the power to enhance
comprehension skills among students with diverse
needs when used with the think-aloud strategy.
According to Wilhelm (2001), a think aloud strategy
provides students with the opportunity to hear what
processes occur inside the head of a good reader
and how they monitor and improve their reading
comprehension. Through cognitive modeling teachers
can teach students how to acquire the ability to
internalize and visualize all of the possibilities of the
text that good readers use to make sense of what they
are reading. Our argument is that if dierentiated,
readers of varying ability levels can and do benet
from the think-aloud strategy. This article will
describe the steps involved in the think aloud strat-
egy, ways to adapt the strategy, and provide a con-
ceptual ow chart as the strategy is used with diverse
learners such as Yubo, Courtney, and Callie.
We chose Chrysanthemum written by Kevin
Henkes as our literature selection for modeling and
teaching the think-aloud strategy. The thought pro-
cess behind this selection was related to the diverse
needs of our three learners. Yubos needs require a
focus on vocabulary and cultural connections. Callie
requires additional help in uency, decoding skills
and making meaning of the text. Courtneys language
skills both receptively and expressively are very literal
in interpretation. She requires strategies to think
beyond the literal, to use context clues to decode
words and make meaning of what she is reading. The
language and humor that Kevin Henkes brings to
Chrysanthemum are a pure delight for readers to
engage in the text and reect on the illustrations. His
lessons on the social and emotional development of
children promote higher-level thinking that is asso-
ciated with the think-aloud process.
THE THINK-ALOUD PROCEDURE
Fountas and Pinnell (1996) believe that as chil-
dren work with text they develop a network of
strategies that allows them to attend to information
172 Migyanka, Policastro, and Lui
from dierent sources. These sources of information
are clustered into three categories: meaning cues,
structural or syntactic cues, and visual cues. It is not
the words that are important but rather the thought
processes children use to gure out new words while
deriving meaning from the text. The think-aloud
provides a sequential framework for teachers to
support struggling readers in helping them make
meaning with a variety of texts. According to
Wilhelm (2001), the steps involved in the think
aloud process include the following:
(1) Choose a short section of text
(2) Select a few strategies (activating prior knowledge, pre-
dicting, visualizing, monitor comprehension, and use x-
up strategies to address confusion and repair comprehen-
sion)
(3) State your purpose for reading (informational and enjoy-
ment) and to focus attention on strategies used
(4) Read the text aloud to students and model the chosen
strategy as you read
(5) Have students annotate the text
(6) Brainstorm cues and strategies used
(7) Teach students to generalize the strategies
(8) Reinforce the think-aloud with follow-up lessons.
Struggling readers may need various adaptations to
the steps in the think-aloud process.
ADAPTING OR DIFFERENTIATING
THE STRATEGY
Choosing the appropriate adaptation is based on
the ability levels and individual needs of the students
who will be engaged in the think-aloud strategy and
the objectives that are to be accomplished. Dieren-
tiating can be done in the following ways:
Teacher models the think-aloud process; students listen.
Teacher models the think-aloud process; students help out.
One student engages in the think-aloud process in a large
group; the teacher and students monitor and help.
Students demonstrate think-alouds in small groups;
teacher and students monitor and help.
Individual student completes the think-aloud in forum;
other students help.
Students do think-alouds individually and in writing, and
then compare their responses with others.
Choosing the correct adaptation should be done with
the learner in mind.
CONCEPTUAL FLOW CHART
After carefully assessing the students individual
needs, we chose as our think-aloud process the tea-
cher doing the think-aloud and the students helping
out. The ow chart shows the process we used in
working with our students (Figure 1).
Setting the Purpose and Drawing Attention
to the Strategies
The teacher opens with Boys and girls, today
we are going to read the story Chrysanthemum and
the genre of that story is ction. The purpose of
reading a ction book is for pleasure and enjoyment
and for you to be aware of all the wonderful stories
that you can read. During this step the teacher
draws her students attention to the think-aloud
strategies that she will use in reading the story so they
can explain what, why, how, and when you use them.
Activating Prior Knowledge
Using the cover of the book, the teacher can help
students activate their prior knowledge by asking
questions related to the author, title, the illustration,
and by doing a picture walk. In the case of Yubo,
previewing prompts included questions that focused
on the title and the illustrations. When asked what
the title made him think of, Yubo responded, This
book is about a ower. When asked why, Yubo
explained that the ower was the largest thing on the
cover of the book.
Predicting
During the read aloud process, the teacher read
the rst few pages of the book, Chrysanthemum. The
students listened and followed the text as the teacher
modeled and supported the students in making con-
nections and verifying their predictions. For example,
as the teacher read What will make her blossom
again? she stops and thinks out loud how and why;
she arrives at her own predictions and then asks the
students to do the same. The students realized that
the words and phrases within the story rearmed or
proved incorrect predictions. Callies incorrect pre-
dictions were veried earlier from the line The day
she was born... Yubo and Courtney both realized
that the story was about a mouse and her long name.
Yubo used text clues while Courtney used the pic-
tures to change their ideas of the story to match new
information (Wilhelm, 2001). Courtney states, First
I saw the big ower but now I see the girl mouse in
her bed. During the reading of the text the children
encountered words that were unknown and dicult.
Vocabulary
In this passage, And precious, priceless, fas-
cinating and winsome, said her father, Courtney,
and Callie wanted to stop and retrieve the meaning
173 Using a Think-Aloud with Diverse Students
for the unfamiliar vocabulary. The teacher models a
x-up strategy by reading the words around the
unknown word and points out context clues that
helps the students replace the word with a word that
they know and think would make sense in this
context. This strategy not only improves compre-
hension but builds the vocabulary knowledge base
as well. For ESL children, such as Yubo, vocabulary
development is critical to improving his compre-
hension.
Without adequate vocabulary, it is dicult for
ESL students to activate prior knowledge and make
sense of the new information. In order to help ESL
students to achieve smooth think-aloud comprehen-
sion, teachers need to build on their vocabulary
competencies before, in the process of, and after the
think-aloud. With dicult words previewed before
doing the think-aloud to the text, with challenging
words claried in the process of doing the think-
aloud, and with the frequently used words and key
words to understanding the text reviewed after the
think-aloud, teachers are helping students build the
think-aloud competency and their vocabulary
adequacy at the same time.
Making Connections
Children need to be given the freedom to think,
connect, and conrm what they are thinking. In
making connections the teacher again models out
loud the thought process used in making connec-
tions to other books, ideas, characters and life
experiences to what she is reading. Courtney ob-
serves excitedly, This story is like the story Big Al.
appropriate for second grade students
Select a book that is developmentally
Set the Purpose
Tell the students to pay attention to the strategies used so they can
explain what, why, how, and when you use them
Preview the book
Read the text aloud and stop often to report out what you are thinking in order
to focus on strategies of predicting, inferring, and other strategies that enhance
comprehension
During the read aloud students underline and highlight phrases
or words that help them use the strategies
Use prediction Activate prior knowledge
Fig. 1. Think-aloud ow chart.
174 Migyanka, Policastro, and Lui
It reminds me of when they made fun of Big Al and
didnt want to be his friend because he was very,
very scarey. They made fun of Chrysanthemum
because a Chrysanthemum is a ower and lives in a
garden with worms and other dirty things.
Through such comparisons students are able to
visualize and understand not only setting, but also
changes in characters and relationships (Oster,
2001). Students can make connections with other
stories, authors, themselves or to other people they
know. For students who have diculty thinking
beyond the literal meaning of text, this strategy can
expand their thinking.
Story Structure, Genre and Author
Students, even those with varying abilities, are
capable of understanding story structure, genres
and characteristics of authors. The teacher should
draw attention to word choices, characters, and
styles of writing that authors consistently use. By
choosing an appropriate book and using think-
alouds, students can discover the style the author
Fig. 2. Think-aloud.
175 Using a Think-Aloud with Diverse Students
uses to send messages and teach values. Callie
connects with Chrysanthemums feelings as they
related to Daved, an ESL student, who had seven
names and was given the American name, Daved to
use in school. Unfortunately, he never responded to
that name and appeared aloof. Callie expresses her
thoughts about Daved, If we had read this book
on Daveds rst day of school maybe we would
have been nicer to him and wouldnt be afraid
when someone doesnt have a name like ours, talk
like we do or eat the things that we eat.
Authors have their own unique style and provide
multiple opportunities to use their literary works in
capturing students imaginations and engage in crit-
ical thinking skills. We chose Kevin Henkes because
his writing style along with the think-aloud process
lends itself to quality assessment. Teachers can assess
what the students are thinking during the think-aloud
by having the children answer orally and rating their
responses (Figure 2).
Teachers also use students written responses or
drawings to assess their weaknesses and capitalize on
their comprehension strengths for planning instruc-
tion (Oster, 2001) (Figure 3).
CONCLUSION
Research states that teaching and learning is a
social act and that by sharing with peers and teachers,
reading becomes an enjoyable and social interaction
where one can relate to each other about text and
ideas (Wilhelm, 2001). Beginning readers and even
older students with poor comprehension often do not
automatically think in ways that promote compre-
hension. In fact these students must be taught meta-
comprehension skills that will help them to engage in
Inference: Explaining
StudentsName: Date:
Chrysanthemum wore her outfit with seven pockets the
next morning. She loaded the pockets with her most
prized possessions and her good-luck charms.
Chrysanthemum took the longest route possible to
school.
She stopped and stared at each and every flower.
Chrysanthemum, Chrysanthemum, Chrysanthemum,
the flowers seemed to say.
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
Fig. 3. Inference: Explaining.
176 Migyanka, Policastro, and Lui
self-monitoring and to realize whether or not under-
standing is taking place during reading. This reali-
zation requires the ability to deliberately shift
strategies in order to facilitate comprehension
(Frandsen & Frandsen, 2002). Ultimately, expert
readers possess the ability to think about and reect
on their reading. This can be accomplished through a
think aloud. There is no magic formula or no one
right way to do the think-aloud process. According to
Farr (2004), the most important component to
determine the success of the think-aloud is the tea-
chers ability to model and facilitate the think-aloud
procedure. The teacher needs to have a basic under-
standing of what is meant to be accomplished using
this method. The success of think aloud is getting the
students to be engagedvisually, emotionally, and
verbally with the text. Choosing a text that is devel-
opmentally appropriate and rich with vocabulary and
meaning is essential. The teacher must set the purpose
for the story and draw the students attention to the
metacomprehension skills in which the teacher and
students will engage. The think aloud helps students
develop the ability to draw on background knowl-
edge as they read, make predictions, correct and
revise those predictions as they gain more informa-
tion from the text, and develop and adapt images as
they read, while constantly (though subconsciously)
monitoring their comprehension. Finally, teachers
need to listen carefully to students responses to text,
teach when and how to select appropriate compre-
hension strategies, determine students abilities, and
adapt the method to meet the needs and abilities
unique of students.
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177 Using a Think-Aloud with Diverse Students