EDC423 Think-aloud Task
EDC423 Think-Aloud Script for Clarifying
Magic Tree House Vacation Under the Volcano
Day 1:
Teacher: Today we’re going to talk about a reading strategy called “clarifying,” and then I’m
going to model my thinking as I read something that I need to clarify. Let’s talk a little bit about
what it means to clarify.
Explain
Clarifying is when something doesn’t make sense to you, and you stop to try to make it make
sense.
Give an Example
Let’s say I’m giving you your math homework assignment. I say, “Please do odd numbers 110.” You don’t know what I mean by “odd numbers,” so you ask: ‘What do you mean odd
numbers?’”
Explain components of clarifying
That’s clarifying something someone said that you don’t understand. You can also clarify
something you read that you don’t understand.
Here is a list of times that you might need to clarify when you’re reading:
When to clarify:
 When you don’t understand what’s going on
 When you don’t know a word
 When you don’t know what something in the text is for, or where it goes.
These different problems might lead you to do different things to solve them. Let’s see:

What if you don’t understand what’s going on? You need to clarify—to figure out what
you don’t know. How are you going to do that?
o You could think about what you already know to help you figure out what you
don’t know. That’s called using your background knowledge—what you already
know. For example, I’m at a new school and I’ve lost my lunch box. I’m
confused about how to go about fining it at this school. But I do know that my
old school had a lost-and-found box. So I figure that this school might have a
lost-and-found box, too. I asked someone and they told me that the lost-andfound box was in the cafeteria. I used something I new to figure out something I
didn’t know. That’s one way of clarifying what I don’t understand: using
background knowledge.
EDC423 Think-aloud Task
o Another way to clarify what you don’t understand is to think about what you’ve
already read. Sometimes we’re confused because the author might be telling us
something that relates to something else in the text—something that happened a
while before. Thinking about what you’ve already read helps you put the pieces
together.
o Another way to clarify is to reread that part of the text that you didn’t understand.
Sometimes we don’t understand something because we didn’t even read it right in
the first place! Of course then we can’t understand it. Clarifying might mean that
if I’m confused, I go back and reread the text. That’s another way of clarifying:
rereading.

What about this one: You need to clarify when you don’t know a word. How are you going
to clarify a word you don’t know?
o Sometimes the word you don’t know is a long word and you can’t read it. In that
case, to clarify you might need to break the word up into pieces to make it easier for
to read. Life if I was trying to read courageous, I might need to chop it up:
cour/age/ous. That’s one way to clarify a word you don’t know: Break long words
down to read them better. Look for little words inside big words. Look for base or
root words, prefixes, or suffixes.
o Even when you break a word down, you might still not know what it means. In that
case, you need to clarify vocabulary—to find out what a word means. How do Iyou
do that? You might need to look up the word in the dictionary. You might need to
ask someone else. Sometimes you can actually use the text to help yourself
understand what a word means. Look for a comma following the word you don’t
understand. Sometimes the author will give the definition after the comma. You
might also be able to use the sentence to help figure it out. For example, let’s say I’m
reading a story about a lion who is charging at some deer and the author says the lion
is ferocious. I don’t know what ferocious means, but I figure out that it has to have
something to do with the lion and how he’s charging at the deer. I might not know
exactly what ferocious means, but I can give myself some idea by using the context of
the story. These are things you might need to clarify what words mean: Look them
up in the dictionary, ask someone, look for a comma, or use the context of the story to
help you figure it out.

Let’s take the last one: Needing to clarify when we don’t know what something in the text is
for. This problem usually happens when you’re reading an information text. You know how
information books have pictures, diagrams, and charts. Maybe you’re confused because you
don’t know what they’re for, or where they go. How do you clarify that?
o One way is to see if you can find the information in the other parts of the text. For
example, in this text (shows), I’m reading along and it says “Figure 5 shows the
mountain in the winter time.” That helps me figure out what Figure 5 is all about.
Maybe to clarify I need to read the text, read the caption, or find where in the text the
author mentions that picture.
EDC423 Think-aloud Task
o Another way is to look at and read the confusing picture or chart and then think back
to what you’ve already read to figure out how the picture or chart goes with what
you’ve read.
o Another way is to use how the text is written. We know that bold or italics means
something is important. We call these print conventions. You can use what you
know about how the print is laid out to help you figure out what goes where.
Let’s review. We have here on our chart three times we may need to use the clarifying strategy:
When we don’t understand what’s going on, when we don’t know a word, or when we don’t
know what something in the text is for, or where it goes. We’re going to clarify these confusions
by: using background knowledge; rereading; breaking long words down to read them better;
looking up a word in the dictionary, asking someone, or using the context of the story to figure
out a word; read the text, read the caption, or find where in the text the author mentions that
picture; and figure out how the picture or chart goes with what you’ve read.
EDC423 Think-aloud Task
Day 2:
Think-Aloud/Modeling
We’re going to start a new Magic Tree House book today. I’m going to start it for us by reading
and thinking aloud to show you how I clarify when I’m reading. Let’s all turn to Vacation
Under the Volcano, page 1.
Teacher reads text: Vacation Under the Volcano, Chapter One: The Secret Code
Jack reached into his drawer and took out his secret library card. He held the think piece of
wood and ran his finger over its shimmering letters: ML.
“Master Librarian,” he whispered.
Jack couldn’t believe that he and his sister, Annie, were finally Master Librarians.
Teacher: Wait, I’m going to stop there. I’m not sure I understand that. He is a Master
Librarian? I don’t understand. So I need to clarify. I’m going to think about what I already
know about this series. I know that Jack and Annie found a MTH that transports them to
different times in history. I also remember that the tree house is filled with books, and is owned
by a librarian named Morgan. Oh, that’s right, by doing some jobs for her, they became Master
Librarians. So now I think I get what’s going on. Jack is looking at the library card and thinking
about how he’s a ML. How did I clarify what I didn’t understand?
Student: You thought about what you already knew.
Teacher: That’s right. I thought about what I already knew about MTH books and about Jack
and Annie to help me understand what’s going on. I used my background knowledge. Let’s
keep reading:
He wondered if he should pack the secret card to take on vacation. His family was about
to leave for a week in the mountains.
Just then Annie stuck her head into Jack’s room.
“Want to check the woods? She asked.
Every morning, they looked in the Frog Creek woods to see if Morgan le Fay and her
magic tree house had returned.
“We can’t,” said Jack. “We’re leaving soon.”
Teacher: Wait. I don’t understand that. They’re leaving soon? Where are they going? I think I
missed something. I’m going to read again. (Reread from “He wondered…”)
Oh, now I get it. He means they’re leaving with the family to go on vacation so they don’t have
time to go to the woods. What did I just do to clarify?
Student: You went back to figure it out.
Teacher: That’s right. I reread because I must have missed something important to what was
going on. Let’s go on:
EDC423 Think-aloud Task
“But what if Morgan’s there?” said Annie.
“What if she’s waiting for us?”
“Oh, okay,” said Jack. “Let’s look fast.”
He grabbed his backpack. He threw in his notebook, his pencil, and his secret library
card. Then he followed Annie downstairs.
“We’ll be back soon!” Annie called.
“Don’t go far!” Their dad called. “We’re leaving in 20 minutes.”
“Don’t worry, we’ll be back in 10!” said Annie.
Right, thought Jack. Five minutes to the woods and five minutes back. Even if Morgan
sent them on an advit, they would
Teacher: Whoa! That makes no sense. She sent them on an advit? Let me look at that word
more carefully. I’ll break it into smaller parts: ad-ven-; advent, oh, adventure. That makes
sense. Let me read that again: Even if Morgan sent them on an adventure. Yeah, that makes
sense. What did I do to clarify?
Student: You fixed your mistake.
Teacher: How?
Student: You chopped the word up.
Teacher: That’s right, I broke up a word to help me figure it out. What else did I do?
Student: You read it again.
Teacher: Yes. When you are confused and you fix something, it’s always helpful to read the
part again to make sure it makes sense. Let’s finish this part up:
Even if Morgan sent them on an adventure, they would return at exactly the same time
that they left.
Teacher: Okay, I’m confused again. They would return at exactly the same time? Let me think
for a minute. Oh, I remember that in MTH books, no time passes in Frog Creek from when they
leave on an adventure to when they get back. What did I just do?
Student: Used background knowledge.
EDC423 Think-aloud Task
Strategy Definition (adult terms)
Strategy: Clarifying
Explanation
Clarifying means that a reader notices when she doesn’t understand some part of a text and takes
necessary steps to repair that understadning. Clarifying is one of many strategies good readers
use as they build meaning from text. It helps students learn to be actively involved in reading, to
monitor their comprehension as they read, and to repair it when needed.
Components
Clarifying consists of noticing things that don’t make sense, and taking steps to fix them.
Students should notice when



The don’t understand the text
The can’t read a word, or don’t understand a word
They can’t figure out how the text is set up
Students should use fix-up strategies to repair the problem:



They don’t understand the text
o Think about what they know (background knowledge)
o Stop and think about what they have already read
o Reread
They can’t read a word, or don’t understand a word
o Break words down:
 Look for little words inside big words
 Look for base or root words, prefixes, or suffixes
 Look for a comma following an unfamiliar word. Sometimes the author
will give the definition after the comma
 Keep reading or reread to see if they can get a sense of the definition from
context
They can’t figure out how the text is set up
o Use print conventions (key words, bold print, italicized words, and punctuation).
o Notice patterns in the text structure.
Importance
Clarifying is a very important strategy, especially for students who have trouble with
comprehension. Some students think that the purpose of reading is to say the words correctly.
They may not even notice or worry about whether the words, sentences, or passages make sense.
Teaching students to clarify helps focus their attention on reasons why the text is difficult to
understand. Teaching clarifying teaches students to notice when they don’t understand and to
take steps to fix the problem.