DOCUMENT RESUME ED 360 612 CS 011 364 AUTHOR Baumann, James F.; And Others TITLE Monitoring Reading Comprehension by Thinking Aloud. Instructional Resource No. 1. INSTITUTION National Reading Research Center, Athens, GA.; National Reading Research Center, College Park, MD. SPONS AGENCY Office of Educational Research and Improvement (ED), Washington, DC. REPORT NO NRRC-IR-93-1 PUB DATE 93 CONTRACT PR-117A20007 NOTE 26p. AVAILABLE FROM National Reading Research Center, University of Georgia, 318 Aderhold Hall, Athens, GA 30602 ($4; prepaid by check or money order payable to NRRC/UGARF). PUB TYPE Reports Descriptive (141) Guides Classroom Use Teaching Guides (For Teacher) (052) EDRS PRICE MF01/PCO2 Plus Postage. DESCRIPTORS Elementary Education; Elementary School Students; Instructional Effectiveness; Lesson Plans; *Metacognition; Program Descriptions; Protocol Analysis; *Reading Comprehension; *Reading Instruction; Reading Strategies IDENTIFIERS *Think Aloud Program ABSTRACT A think-aloud instructional program was developed to help students acquire the ability to monitor their reading comprehension and to employ various strategies to deal with comprehension breakdowns. Several research studies indicate that comprehension monitoring abilities discriminate successful readers from less successful ones and that think-aloud instruction is superior to directed reading activity. Clark Canine, Super Reporter, a play on the Superman character, appears through the 10 lessons of the instructional program. Students are taught to see the role of the reader (one who interviews writers) as analogous to the role of a reporter (one who interviews people). Each of the lessons has three phases: an introduction consisting of an overview and verbal explanation of the strategy; a teacher modeling segment; and a guided application and independent practice period. The 10 lessons are: self questioning; sources of information; think-aloud introduction; think-aloud review; predicting, reading, and verifying; understanding unstated information; retelling a story; rereading and reading on; and two lessons involving think aloud/comprehension monitoring application. The instructional program can be modified or adapted in various ways in classrooms other than regular reading classrooms. Think alouds provide teachers an effective, useful, and flexible technique for helping students acquire control over their comprehension processing of written texts. (A figure of the Clark Canine character and a table listing lesson content are included; 28 references are attached.) (RS) MONITORING READING COMPREHENSION BY THINKING ALOUD Nancy Seifert-Kessell James F. Baumann Leah A. Jones vsa,1 k' U.I. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION Othc of Educational Research and Improvement EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC) X,Thls document has been reproduced as ecerved from the person Or Orpanizstion ongInehng It 0 Minor chomps have been mad* to improve rePrOdochon Quality Pt:tints of vmw or Optnions Stil leo in this docu- NRRC ment do not netosurity represent official OERI position or policy Instructional Resource No. 1 National Reading Research Center Summer 1993 ifir,r. BEST. Cf7r.sY 4° NRRC National Reading Research Center Monitoring Reading Comprehension by Thinking Aloud James F. Baumann University of Georgia Leah A. Jones Chandler, Arizona Nancy Seifert-Kesseil Cleveland State University INSTRUCTIONAL RESOURCE NO. 1 Summer 1993 The work reported herein was prepared with partial support from the National Reading Research Center of the University of Georgia and University of Maryland. It was supported under the Educational Research and Development Centers Program (PR/AWARD NO. 117A20007) as administered by the Office of Educational Research and Improvement, U.S. Department of Education. The findings and opinions expressed here do not necessarily reflect the position or policies of the National Reading Resehrch Center, the Office of Educational Research and Improvement, or the U.S. Department of Education. NRRC National Reading Research Center Nstional Advisory Board Executive Committee Phyllis W. Aldrich Donna E. Alvermann, Co-Director Saratoga Warren Board of Cooperative Educational University of Georgia Services, Saratoga Springs, New York John T. Guthrie, Co-Director Arthur N. Applebee University of Maryland College Park State University of New York, Albany James F. Baumann, Associate Director Ronald S. Brandt University of Georgia Association for Supervision and Curriculum Patricia S. Koskinen, Associate Director Development University of Maryland College Park Marsha T. DeLain JoBeth Allen South Carolina Department of Education University of Georgia Carl A. Grant John F. O'Flahavan University of Wisconsin-Madison University of Maryland College Park Walter Kintsch James V. Hoffman University of Colorado at Boulder University of Texas at Austin Robert L. Linn Cynthia R. Hynd University of Colorado at Boulder University of Georgia Luis C. Moll Robert Serpell University of Arizona University of Maryland Baltimore County Carol M. Santa School District No. 5 Publications Editors Kalispell, Montana Research Reports and Perspectives Anne P. Sweet David Reinking, Receiving Editor Office of Educational Research and Improvement, University of Georgia U.S. Department of Education Linda Baker, Tracking Editor Louise Cherry Wilkinson University of Maryland Baltimore County Rutgers University Linda C. 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The Perspective University of Maryland College Park in collaboration Series presents a wide range of publications, from with researchers at several institutions nationwide. to discover and The NRRC's mission calls for research and commentary on research and is practice to first-person accounts of experiences in document those conditions in homes, schools, and communities that encourage children to become schools. Instructional Resources include curriculum materials, instructional guides, and materials for readers. NRRC lifelong skilled, enthusiastic, advancing the for researchers are committed primarily growth, designed professional to teachers. development of instructional programs sensitive to about the NRRC's For more information the cognitive, sociocultural, and motivational factors research projects and other activities, or to have that affect children's success in reading. NRRC researchers from a variety of disciplines conduct your name added to the mailing list, please contact: studies with teachers and students from widely Donna E. Alvermann, Co-Director diverse cultural and socioeconomic backgrounds in prekindergarten through grade 12 classrooms. National Reading Research Center 318 Aderhold Hall Research projects deal with the influence of famity University of Georgia and family-school interactions on the development Athens, GA 30602-7125 of literacy; the interaction of sociocultural factors and motivation to read; the impact of literature- (706) 542-3674 based reading programs on reading achievement the effects of reading strategies instruction on John T. Guthrie, Co-Director National Reading Research Center comprehension and critical thinking in literature, 2102 J. M. Patterson Building science, and history; the influence of innovative University of Maryland group participation structures on motivation and College Park, MD 20742 learning; the potential of computer technology to (301) 405-8035 enhance literacy; and the development of methods and standards for alternative literacy assessments. The NRRC is to the committed further participation of teachers as full partners in its research. A better understanding of how teachers view the development of literacy, how they use knowledge from research, and how they approach change in the classroom is crucial to improving instruction. To further this understanding, the NRRC conducts school-based research in which teachers explore their own philosophical and pedagogical orientations and trace their professional growth. 5 Editorial Review Board NRFIC Cynthia Hynd Lynne Diaz-Rico Patricia Adkins University of Georgia California State University-San Univeisity of Georgia Bernardino Robert Jimenez Peber Afflorbach U. Jaen Dreher University of Oregon University of Maryland College Park University of Maryland College Park Karen Johnson Jo Both Alien Pennsylvania State University Pamela Dunston University of Georgia University of Georgia James King Patty Anders University of South Florida Jim Flood University of Arizona San Diego State University Kate Kirby Tom Anderson Gwinnett County Public Schools Dana Fox University of Illinois at Urbana- Lawrenceville, Georgia University of Arizona Champaign Sophie Kowzun ham Blum Linda Gambrel! Prince George's County School District University of Maryland Baltimore Pine Springs Elementary School Landover, Maryland County Falls Church, Virginia Rosary Lank Valerie Garfield John Borkowski Virginia Polytechnic Institute Chattahoochee Elementary School . Notre Dame University Cumming, Georgia Sarah McCarthey Cynthia Bowen University of Texas at Austin Sherrie Gibney-Sherman Baltimore County Public Schools Athens-Clarke County School District Towson, Maryland Athens, Georgia Lisa Mc Fails University of Georgia Itarty Carr Rachel Grant University of Georgia Mike McKenna University of Maryland College Park CIswll Georgia Southern University Suzanne Barbara Guzzetti Montgomery County Public Schools Donna Mosley Arizona State University Rockville, Maryland Louisiana State University Jane Haugh Joan Coley Barbara Michaloy. Center for Developing Learning Western Maryland College Fowler Drive Elementary School Potentials Athens, Georgia Silver Spring, Maryland Michelle Commeyras University of Georgia Akintunde Morakinyo Beth Ann Herrmann University of Maryland College Park University of South Carolina Linda Cooper Shaker Heights City School District Bruce Murray Kathleen Heubach Shaker Heights, Ohio University of Georgia University of Georgia Karen Costello Susan Neuman Susan HUI Connecticut Department of Education Temple University University of Maryland College Park Harfford, Connecticut Caroline Noyes Sally Hudson-Ross Kar In Dahl University of Georgia University of Georgia Ohio State University Priscilla Waynant Paula Schwanenflugei John O'Flahavan Rollkw Terrace Elementary School University of Georgia University of Maryland College Park Takoma Park, Maryland Penny Oldfather Robert Seeps Jane West University of Maryland Baltimore University of Georgia University of Georgia County Joan Pagnucco Steve White Betty Shockley University of Georgia University of Georgia Fowler Drive Elementary School Athens, Georgia Barbara Palmer Allen WIglield University of Maryland College Park University of Maryland College Park Susan Sonnenscheln University of Mary land Baltimore Mike Pickle Dortha Wilson County University of Georgia Fort Valley State College Jessi Pollack Steve Stahl Shelley Wong University of Georgia Maryland Department of Education University of Maryland College Park Baltimore, Maryland Liqing Tao Sally Porter University of Georgia Blair High School Ruby Thompson Silver Spring, Maryland Clad( Atlanta University Michael Pressley Louise Tomlinson University of Maryland College Park University of Georgia John Reedenc Sandy Tumarkin University of Nevada-Las Vegas Strawberry Knolls Elementary School Gaithersburg, Maryland Toni Reeves University of Georgia Sheila Valencia University of Washington Lenore Ringlet New York University Bruce VanSiedright University of Maryland Co ileac Park Mary Roe University of Delaware Louise Waynant Prince George's County School District Rebecca Sammons Upper Marlboro, Maryland University of Maryland College Park About the Authors James F. Baumann is Professor of Reading Nancy Seifert-Kessell is Visiting Lecturer in the Education at the University of Georgia and Department of Specialized Instructional Pro- Associate Director of the National Reading grams at Cleveland State University. She has Research Center. As a member of the Native taugh' fourth grade in Gary, Indiana, has served as a reading consultant at the Common School American Teacher Corps project, he taught third in Amherst, Massachusetts, and has taught and fourth grade in a rural Wisconsin communi- reading to learning-disabled children at the ty. He was editor of The Reading Teacher from Smith College Campus School in Northampton, 1989 to 1993. Massachusetts. Leah A. Jones earned her M.S. in elementary education at Purdue University, where she worked on Volume 43 of The Reading Teacher. She has taught kindergarten and the primary grades in the Vancouver, British Columbia, area. + ei Monitoring In a recent study (Baumann, Seifert-Kessell, 1992), we asked fourth-grade & Jones, Reading students to read an excerpt from Laura Ingalls Wilder's On the Banks of Plum Creek, in which Laura, playing in the haz- Comprehension ardous, fast-running waters of Plum Creek, rolls off a footbridge and nearly drowns. by As the students read the story aloud, we stopped them occasionally and asked "Can Thinking you tell me what you were doing or think- ing about as you read this part of the Aloud Consider the following sets of story?" responses by two different groups of children. Ann, Kim, Sam, and Tom respond- ed to our question, in part, as follows: James F. Baumann I was asking questions, and I asked Ann: University of Georgia questions like 'Why did she go to the creek when her mother told her not to?" Leah A. Jones And 'Why did Laura take her shoes and Chandler, Arizona socks off when she knew the creek was going to be rocky and muddy on the Nancy Seifert-Kessell bottom?' Cleveland State University I was asking myself 'Is this making Kim: sense? and I was asking if /ike [what] do I think what would happen next without National Reading Research Center reading the next page-just reading that Universities of Georgia and Maryland [the present] page. [Researcher: Can you Instructional Resource No. 1 tell me a bit more about this?] She'll Summer 1993 probably go down there again and play when the water's down and when it's not so high and when it's not so like roaring and stuff. Sam: I retold what I read the first time to [page] 193 as I was reading the last part of the story to see if it would make sense. I was thinking that like when she Tom: wanted to get deeper and deeper in the 9 James F. Baumann, Leah A. Jones, and Nancy Seifert-Kesseil 2 Oh, trying to stop at every period water, then the water would probably try Lynn: and take her off or sorrething. and trying to pause at the commas. And I [Re- really didn't knowin the beginning there anything else you were searcher: I Is I was trying to trying to do as you read?] didn't think I'd be right in what I thought read loud like instead of talking real soft because it talked about so many other . . . and you couldn't hear me. things. Then when I got further on in the [Researcher: Anything else you did or What else? story, then it started to make sense. thought about as you were reading this section?] Not really. The students who gave these responses a group that had had participated in kept saying blank.° Ron: [Researcher: learned how to think aloud as they read I Can you tell me more about that? Why stories. The intent behind the think-aloud did you keep saying °blank?" (No student lessons was to help them develop the response.) What do you do to help you ability to monitor their reading compre- understand what you read?] Look at the hension and employ strategies to guide or Can you think of pictures. [Researcher: aid their understanding. And, indeed, in anything else you do besides look at the their responses, these children demonstrat- Ask a friend. pictures?] [Researcher: ed that they were using various compre- What kinds of things would you ask a hension monitoring and fix-up strategies, If he could pronounce a word. friend?] such as self-questioning (Ann), asking if the story made sense (Kim), using retelling Kate, Lynn, and Ron had not received technicue construction instruction in thinking aloud but instead meaning as a (Sam), or offering hypotheses and reaeng read stories according to a conventional on to verify or modify them (Tom). directed reading activity format. Rather In contrast, consider how Kate, Lynn, than focusing on comprehension processes and Ron responded to our question "Can as did Ann, Kim, Sam, and Tom, these you tell me what you were doing or think- students emphasized literal comprehension ing about as you read this part of the (Kate), accurate oral reading (Lynn), or story?': word identification strategies (Ron). It is the purpose of this report to de- Nothing? Nothing. scribe the think-aloud instructional pro- [Researcher: Kate: What kind of ideas did you have as you gram we developed to help students ac- That her mom was very nice and read?] quire the ability to monitor their reading understood that it could have killed her. comprehension and to employ various Any other ideas you had?] [Researcher: strategies to deal with comprehension Anything She was nice. [Researcher: breakdowns. First, we provide some back- else?] No. ground information about comprehension NRRC National Reading Research Center 0 'L