Thinking Aloud
CTE READS: Thinking Aloud
Written by: Carilyn Knill, Peggy LaShier, Ann Tebo, Kathy Wooton
School: Skyline Grade Level and/or Subject: High School Length of Study: 15-30
minutes
Content Objective: TSW
 Examine the efficient reader’s (the teacher) thought process to observe how
understanding comes about.
 Apply the process of a proficient reader to help them think independently as they
read.
Lesson or Performance Objective:
“Thinking aloud” – The teacher reads aloud, and then stops to share what he/she is
thinking about as he/she is reading, and which strategies are used to understand the
material.
Standards Addressed: AIMS Connection:
The connection would be dependent upon the selection read, and the strategies you would
be using to understand the text.
Strand 1: The Reading Process
Concept 4: Vocabulary
Concept 6: Comprehension Strategies
PO 1. Predict text content using prior knowledge and text features (e.g., illustrations, titles, topic
sentences, key words).
PO 2. Generate clarifying questions in order to comprehend text.
PO 4. Connect information and events in text to experience and to related text and sources.
Materials, Resources and Technology Needed:
Attached Baseball article or a CTE article regarding curriculum
Instructional Procedures or Anticipatory Set:
Choose a reading selection that is appropriate for your curriculum, or use The Life of a
Baseball story (following) to demonstrate your thinking as you read. This activity will
seem more genuine if you use a selection related to what you are studying in class.
However, the story that follows is interesting (and short).
Presentation Skills
1. Make and distribute copies of whatever reading materials you have selected.
2. Read aloud, pausing to explicitly explain what you are thinking (an example follows
the story).
3. Whenever a reading strategy is used, point that out. (Also included in this week’s
lesson is a list of strategies that active readers employ as they read.)
4. Give students examples of other learning situations that would be appropriate to
incorporate the strategies used.
Assessment:
No formal assessment cited.
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Thinking Aloud
The Life of a Baseball
Ever wonder how the skin of a baseball is sewn on? All those sharp turns, the exact string
tension that creates just the right seams—it’s easier to imagine a baseball stork giving
birth to baseballs than to envision a sewing machine that could manage the job! Actually,
there’s neither a baseball stork nor a machine that sews the skin on a baseball.
Unbelievably, most baseballs are sewn together by hand!
A baseball starts as a small sphere of cork. Then, the cork core is surrounded by a rubber
shell. Half of the rubber shell is black. The other half is red. At this stage, a baseball is
known as a “pill.” The pill grows by being wound with three layers of wool yarn. After
the ball has been wrapped in wool, a layer of cotton is wrapped around the ball. This
layer of cotton is what makes the ball smooth. The final layer, a cowhide cover, is fixed
to the cotton with rubber cement. The cowhide cover is extremely tight-fitting and must
be sewn on over this sticky and extremely firm lump.
It is at this stage, the baseball-sewing expert steps up to the plate. The sewing expert uses
a device that holds the sticky baseball with the leather cover wrapped around it. The
sewer must make 108 stitches in the ball, following stitching holes that have already been
punched into the ball. The sewer starts at the narrowest part of the cover, known as the
“neck,” and stitches down the seam with custom- made needles. The ball is dampened so
that it is flexible and the sewer must manipulate the ball and the needle to stitch up the
rest of the ball. This is no easy task! The sewer must use a foot-pedal controlled vise to
turn the ball around in order to get at any hard to reach sections. Although it’s meticulous
and time- consuming work, experts generally sew four to six baseballs an hour. After the
sewing is complete, it’s time for the final stage, during which a wooden press rolls the
baseball-to-be’s seams flat In order to protect the balls from humidity, finished balls are
stored in a dehumidifying room.
A ruler and a scale put the resulting ball to the test at this stage, a ball must have a
circumference that falls between 9 and 9.25 inches and weigh between 5 and 5.25 ounces.
Baseballs that don’t measure up are known as “lemons.” The lemons are used in batting
practice or become stadium gift shop items. The balls that make the grade soon end up on
the pitchers mound in a major league game.
The Princeton review know it all! Grades 9-12 Reading (First edition). (2004), New
York: Random House, Inc., 61.
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Thinking Aloud
Ideas for what to say are in italics related to The Life of a Baseball story.
Start by reinforcing the importance of thinking while reading by saying something like:
We’ve talked about this before, and I’m going to say it again. When you read you need to
be thinking the whole time to be actively involved in the reading process. Today I am
going to demonstrate the type of thinking that should be going on in a reader’s mind with
an interesting story about how baseballs are made.
Look at the title, and say:
When I first looked at the title, I envisioned a well-worn baseball. The one in my mind
had red stitching.
After reading the second paragraph, talk about the importance of questioning as you read.
When I think of cork, I imagine a stopper for a bottle. I wonder if this is the same
lightweight cork material used for the center of baseballs?
After the third paragraph note the author’s style:
This paragraph starts out with some figurative language appropriate for a baseball story.
The ball sewer is “stepping up to the plate” which is a baseball metaphor. Very clever of
the author, because it makes the story more interesting to read.
Inference after third paragraph:
It’s interesting to read that the holes are already punched into the leather. I would infer
from this that it would be impossible for the sewer to penetrate the leather with a needle.
Identification of, and thinking through unfamiliar words:
I need to stop and make sense out of this paragraph before moving on because there are
some unfamiliar words in it. It says that the sewer must use a food pedal controlled vise
to turn the ball. I’m not familiar with what a vise is, but I can create a mental image of
something that holds and turns the ball as it is being sewn.
If you don’t think they’d “buy” not knowing what a vise is, here’s another option:
I’m not 100% sure what meticulous means. The passage is describing the process as
being meticulous and time consuming. Earlier it described it as “no easy task,” so I am
going to assume that meticulous means not easy because of all of the careful steps that
must be taken to get the baseball put together correctly.
At the end:
I never knew that this much went into making a baseball, or that they are stitched by
hand. The next time I see one, I’ll take a closer look at it!
I hope that you can see that when you are reading something new it helps to understand
the material if you stop to figure out the meaning of any unfamiliar words.
See next page for the Active Reading Process handout!
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Thinking Aloud
The Active Reading Process
Good readers get involved with what they are reading in a variety of ways.
As you read selections, challenge yourself to choose which of the strategies
listed below would be appropriate for the informational text that you have
been assigned to read.
Activating prior knowledge:
Using background knowledge to make connections with what you already know about the reading
material in relation to personal experiences, knowledge about the world and other previously read
materials can help you understand the new text better and repair meaning if anything is unclear.
Inferring – stopping to think about what has been read:
By stopping and then pondering about what has been read, efficient readers connect new information
with background knowledge they possess. This allows them to process new information.
Asking questions:
When readers ask questions as they read and when they know where to look for answers to those
questions, they improve the quality of their reading, make inferences more readily, can reach
conclusions and are able to reestablish control over their reading. This would include searching to
identify the meaning of unknown words.
Predicting:
By anticipating what may come next in text based on what has already been read readers alert
themselves to possible confusions or awareness that their comprehension is breaking down. If a
prediction is wrong, efficient readers return to the text to make a new guess and get them back on
track.
“Marking up” the reading material:
Effective readers underline important passages, and/or use a coding system to indicate essential
concepts, questions they may have about the text, recurring key words, or other points of interest.
Writing about what has been read:
By jotting down any thoughts or reflections or connections that come to mind about a text helps
readers to clarify what they think about the text and helps them better understand the text. The use of
graphic organizers helps the reader to see relationships between concepts.
Visualizing:
When meaning is compromised, efficient readers conjure up mental images from life experiences to
assist them in understanding what is occurring in the text or what the step that they are being
instructed to perform is likely to look like.
Rereading:
After reading a passage, stop and think about what it was that you just read about. Identify the main
idea and important details. If you cannot do that, go back and read the passage again.
Adjusting the rate of reading:
Everything should not be read at the same speed. If you are reading something that is technical or
complicated, slow down your rate of reading.
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