Think Aloud is a strategy that scaffolds students’ interactions with print. I’ve been using this strategy in literacy sessions – Interactive, Shared, Guided and Modelled. When modelling my journal, I’m making my thinking process very explicit. Articulating the strategies I’m using, resources that are helping me, and constantly articulating the ‘read back & check and change’ process.
This has definitely increased my students’ use of these strategies. During Student Led Interactive Writing, I roam for part of the session listening to conversations, and prompting when necessary. It’s wonderful to see these very young children sharing their thinking strategies aloud with their group. Today I noticed a number of children prompting not telling , and when this happens the learning truly becomes collaborative.
I model editing when I write, and I think by doing this I’m giving my beginning writers the message that it’s good practice to cross out, change and check. I’ve noticed this starting to happen. I’ve included a number of photos from today’s Interactive Writing learning experience.
Our Language Experience whole class negotiated sentence is: I went to the playground. At this stage of the year, all groups do the same sentence. There are excellent attempts at writing ‘playground’. The children had to draw upon everything they knew to attempt this word.
Cheers Nina
Nina Davis: Teaching & Learning in Australia 
Hi Erna,
I know teachers use Student Led Interactive Writing in the senior classes & Teacher Led . In Australia these are students in their 6 and 7th year of formal schooling.
I think using Interactive Writing is powerful with this age group when teaching a text type. I may have to blog this because I know exactly the resource I would use with this age group.
I’ll post something this week. Thanks for asking this question and for leaving a comment.
Cheers Nina
Hi…
I’m interested your model of interactive writing, what about for junior high school level How do we do to invite the students do writing, I mean How to guide them ?
Thanks for another great post Nina. You always make the process so explicit for other teachers and easy to follow and implement in our own classrooms. I will be closely following your journey and it seems many others around the world are too (50,000 hits and a very spotty cluster map – amazing!). Looking forward to many more posts! 🙂
PS – We like to use flat glass pebbles as our spacers – we call them `magic spacers’ (Somehow everything in our room has a little bit of magic added!).
Thanks for leaving such a supportive comment. It is amazing that I can collaborate and connect with educators anywhere to share practice. I love that your classroom has a ‘little bit of magic’ in it everything! Flat glass pebbles, may have to look for some of those!
Cheers Nina
Great post Nina. I like this idea of teachers ‘lending our cognition’ to our students when we use strategies to do just that – being explicit about our thinking process and actions when writing . Your post explains this process so well. Thank you 🙂
Hi Jessica,
I like the way you said ‘ lending our cognition’. I often refer to it as ‘sharing secret teacher’s business’. Thanks for leaving a comment, it is greatly appreciated!
Cheers Nina