What is a Think-Aloud?

A Think-Aloud is an instructional strategy where teachers verbalize their thought process while reading, allowing students to gain insight into how to approach texts. This method demonstrates the cognitive processes involved in comprehension, such as making predictions, clarifying understanding, and connecting new information with prior knowledge. By articulating thoughts, teachers model critical thinking and help students become more aware of their own reading strategies. This technique fosters engagement, as students learn to apply similar strategies in their reading and can improve their comprehension skills by observing how experienced readers navigate texts.

The other options do not encapsulate the essence of a Think-Aloud. A written summary of a lesson focuses on distillation of content rather than the verbalization of thought processes. Group discussions about story themes involve collaborative dialogue, rather than the individual cognitive modeling of reading strategies. A silent reading strategy emphasizes reading without verbalization, which contrasts with the interactive nature of a Think-Aloud.