My article this week was entitled Teaching online comprehension strategies using think-alouds by Angel Kymes. In the article, Kymes addressed many similarities and differences between print and online texts as well as the benefits of read-alouds. Read-alouds are defined as "a technique by which the individual voices her or his thoughts during the performance of a task." (pg. 493) The article introduces the topic of think-alouds as a form of assessment. Ideally, a think-aloud can demonstrate to the teacher the mental process of the student performing the think-aloud. While the think-aloud has benefits for the teacher in terms of assessment, it optimally has benefits for the student as well. "Use of the think-aloud will benefit students by showing them that reading is a meaning-making process, involves the use of strategy, and is a skill that can be developed through sharing with other and individual self-reflection (Wilhelm)." (pg. 496)
While the read-aloud concept sounds beneficial to all involved, I am still apprehensive about how to conduct a read-aloud. The article states several times that modeling and scaffolding must occur by the part of the teacher before the students should be asked to attempt a read-aloud, however I feel as though I would need to watch someone model a read-aloud before I can fully grasp this concept. Throughout reading the article, I could not think of a single example where I have witnessed a read-aloud in text or online format. I think that this lack of prior knowledge may be a large reason as to why this concept does not make much sense to me.
All in all, I think the goal of the read-aloud is to raise awareness in the students of how they read and how they process the information. The article states that, "teaching students to regulate their learning is a 'long-term endeavor requiring modeling and explanation of mature thought embedded in an extensive practice of doing interesting and authentic tasks with appropriate scaffolding'." (pg. 498) I do think that students should learn to regulate their learning, and I think that the concept of a read-aloud would be one way to teach students to achieve this goal.
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Great job, Lauren! One thing I really enjoyed while reading your post was that you stated that you didn't fully grasp the concept of the read-aloud, or at least how to go about using them in your instruction, but you were still able to convey what they were as well as their intended purpose. I am interested to find out more about the benefits of read-alouds and possibly even see one take place, because I noticed in our jigsaw groups that the person who read this article was also confused about the read-alouds. I think this is because it is something our generation didn't take part in while we went to school, or just don't remember. Either way, I'm definitely interested in learning new ways to teach and assess students so this is something I'll have to look into!
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