The Importance of Active Reading, Part 2

In Tuesday's post, we discussed big-picture ideas to help a striving reader. Perhaps the most important of these is the concept of engaging the text. When reading becomes a participatory event, rather than a passive activity, students are far more likely to absorb new knowledge. (Not to mention the fact that it's far more fun to feel involved than it is to just stare down at a page!)

Today, let's look at the "Think-Aloud," a research-based activity (Baumann, Jones, & Seifert-Kessell, 1993) that boosts both aptitude and confidence in striving readers. Feel free to adapt or augment this activity to best work within your own tutoring parameters (e.g., how much time you have, what type of text your child is reading, how much intervention your child requires).

Please note that, as is true of the majority of effective active-reading strategies, a "Think-Aloud" is not a solitary-study activity; rather, this activity depends upon interaction with you or another tutor. This makes sense, as talking about the text is one of the best ways to reinforce understanding. With time and practice, your striving reader can become a fluent, active, enthusiastic reader! Let's get started.

The Theory Behind the Think-Aloud: Often, students struggle with reading assignments because they've never truly learned the process of reading comprehension. They may be so worried about finishing a passage, or about pronouncing words correctly in front of their teacher and classmates, that they do not analyze or even comprehend the text. This is where the modeling strategy called "Think-Aloud" comes in.

The Process of the Think-Aloud: The crux of the process is right there in the name: You, as a fluent and active reader, model your thought process for your child. For example, if you choose to model previewing a text, your think-aloud might sound something like this:

"Okay, I'm going to read this chapter from my science book. I wonder what it's about? I can see from the chapter title that the big idea is 'Animal Habitats.' And, if I look at the smaller headings—those are called the 'subheadings'—I see that I'm going to learn about 'Warm, Tropical Habitats' and 'Arctic and Antarctic Habitats.' By looking at the pictures, I can tell that I'll be reading about all kinds of animals, from tortoises to polar bears. Before I start reading, I'm going to take a couple minutes to think about what I already know about where animals live. When I make a connection to my own knowledge and experiences, I understand the text better."

The think-aloud process can be eye-opening for students who feel overwhelmed by reading assignments. By showing your child how to think analytically, you are giving her the keys to reading comprehension.

The right online tutor can make active reading both fun and effective for your child.