Read Aloud
Examples of Prompts to Use During Read Aloud to Highlight Particular Reading Skills
Reading Skill
Envisioning
Ways We Preface Think Alouds
During Read Aloud
Ways We Prompt Students to Talk,
Think or Write During Read Aloud
Examples from The Great Gilly
Hopkins by Katherine Patterson
- As I read this part, I’m picturing…
- When I picture this in my mind, it
makes me think…
- When I read this part, I can hear/
smell/taste/feel…
- I’m picturing the character right now,
and I’m imaging how she looks
(moves/sounds, etc.) I bet…
- This book is set (in the old days), so I’m
picturing that…
- Wait, I have to stop and picture this
part…The author just gave lots of
details.
(I see her/him…I imagine…)
- I’m going to reread this part. Readers do
that so we can get a vivid picture in our
minds. In a minute, you can share your
mental picture with your partner…
- Imagine with your partner what the
character looks like when she says that…
- Let’s really picture this part. Look
closely at this illustration, and try to put
ourselves inside the scene by thinking
about the sounds/smells/tastes, etc.
- The author just gave us a big description
of …..Turn and talk to your partner
about what you’re envisioning right now.
Agnes Stokes was waiting outside
when she started for school the next
morning.
“You know some things about
Agnes. See her.”
Gilly’s first impulse was to turn around
“What does Gilly’s face look like?
Add it to your picture.”
Gilly’s first impulse was to turn around
and go back into the house until Agnes had
left, but it was too late.
“Agnes has just seen Gilly. What
does she look like now? Show me.
Make your face look like Agnes’s
face. Make your body look like
hers.”
Agnes was already waving and yelling at
her.
“Hear Gilly’s thoughts. What is
she thinking? Turn and tell your partner.”
Agnes was already waving and yelling at
her. What a creep! Gilly walked past her
quickly without speaking. She could hear
Agnes’s little scurrying steps behind her;
then there was a dirty hand on her arm.
“Partner A, be Gilly and partner
B, be Agnes and act out the movie in your
mind.”
3-8 Summer Institute Reading Packet
Copyright 2011, Teachers College Reading and Writing Project
PLEASE DO NOT DUPLICATE
Reading Skill
Ways We Preface Think Alouds
During Read Aloud
Ways We Prompt Students to Talk,
Think or Write During Read Aloud
Examples from The Great Gilly
Hopkins by Katherine Patterson
Accumulating
the Text
- What’s happened so far is…and this makes
me think that…
- This part fits with the last part because…
- Whoa! This doesn’t seem to fit with
everything else. I’m thinking that…
- Hey, this is similar to what happened at the
beginning of the book…I’m thinking that…
- OK. We just finished that chapter, and now
I want to take a minute to think about how
what happened in this chapter connects with
the rest of the story so far…
- Turn and talk with your partner about the
important parts of the last chapter to help
us hold on to them as we read the next
chapter.
- Turn and talk to your partner about how
this part fits with what we’ve already read.
- Hmmm… how does this part fit in with
what we’ve read already? Turn and talk
with your partner
- Let’s take a minute and talk with our
partners about the characters we’ve met so
far. Turn and talk about the different
characters and their relationships with each
other.
Agnes Stokes was waiting outside when she
started for school the next morning. Gilly’s first
impulse was to turn around and go back into the
house until Agnes had left, but it was too late.
Predicting
- Oh, I know what’s going to happen next… I
bet she’s going to…
- Wait, I feel tension because of ….. So I
think what’s going to happen is…
- He has a big decision to make…I’m
thinking that he’s going to…
- Oh, I thought … was going to happen, but
now I’m thinking something different
because…
- Turn and tell your partner what you think
is going to happen next.
- Oh, the author is leaving us hanging right
here…what do you think is going to
happen?
- Wait. It seems like the author is giving us
some hints right now. Turn and tell your
partner what you think the character is
going to do…
- Hmmm. Given this information, turn and
talk to your partner about whether or not
you need to revise your prediction.
3-8 Summer Institute Reading Packet
Copyright 2011, Teachers College Reading and Writing Project
PLEASE DO NOT DUPLICATE
This seems to fit with other parts of the book.
Talk to your partner about other scenes where we
saw Gilly acting this way.
Agnes was already waving and yelling at her.
What a creep! Gilly walked past her quickly
without speaking. She could hear Agnes’s little
scurrying steps behind her; then there was a dirty
hand on her arm.
Disgusted, Gilly shook it off. Agnes’s hand
was gone, but she hooked her chin over Gilly’s
upper arm, her face twisted up to look Gilly in
the face. Her breath smelled.
“What are we going to do today?” she asked.
So far Gilly is once again trying to get away from
someone who wants to be close to her. What does
this make you think? Turn and Talk
Agnes Stokes was waiting outside when she
started for school the next morning. Gilly’s first
impulse was to turn around and go back into the
house until Agnes had left, but it was too late.
Agnes was already waving and yelling at her.
What a creep! Gilly walked past her quickly
without speaking. She could hear Agnes’s little
scurrying steps behind her; then there was a dirty
hand on her arm.
“You know some things about Gilly and Agnes.
What do you think Gilly will do? What will
Agnes do? Stop and jot. Let’s read on and see
what they do.”
Reading Skill
Inferring
Synthesizing
Ways We Preface Think Alouds
During Read Aloud
Ways We Prompt Students to
Talk, Think or Write During
Read Aloud
Examples from The Great Gilly Hopkins
by Katherine Patterson
- What I just read said…but I’m thinking
there’s more going on here. I think
that…
- I’m noticing … and this makes me think
that…
- The words say…but when I look at the
illustration I think…
- She’s saying…but I think she really
means…because…
- Given what just happened, I think the
character is feeling/thinking…
- I have some things I wonder about,
things I am not sure about. I can use
some of these prompts to theorize about
my wonderings:
- It seems as if…
- Maybe it could be…
- But what about…
- It’s really about…
- The character said…what do you think
she really means by that?
- Turn and tell your partner what the
character is probably feeling/thinking
about this?
- Hmmm. It seems like there’s more to
this part than is on the page. Turn and
tell your partner what you think is
really going on right now…
“You need anything, honey, just let Trotter
know, OK?”
Gilly jerked her head in a nod. What she needed
was to be left alone. From the bowels of the house
she could hear the theme song from Sesame Street.
Her first job would be to improve W.E.’s taste in
TV. That was for sure.
- Wow. That was a powerful scene. I
want to reread it, this time thinking
about the images and messages it
conveys, so I can better understand it.
- It seems that this part is a metaphor
for…
- When I finish a book, I like to think
about what happened in the story and
also about the big themes and deeper
meanings that I got from it…
Huh. It seems like Gilly is planning something.
Using what you know about her, turn and talk to
your partner. What do you think that Gilly might
be thinking of doing?
“It’s going to be okay, honey. I know it’s been
hard to switch around so much.”
“I like moving.” Gilly jerked one of the top
drawers so hard it nearly came out onto her head.
“It’s boring to stay in one place.”
- Okay, this part was pretty intense.
Turn and talk to your partner about
what you think it means to the story…
- This is the part where the character
overcame his problem. Turn and talk
to your partner about what you think
the author is trying to say to us…
- Turn and talk about how this part fits
with the idea we’ve grown so far…
“What do you think Gilly is feeling right now?
Stop and jot what you think is really going on here
and why. Let’s read on and see if we can add to
our thinking.”
Agnes Stokes was waiting outside when she
started for school the next morning. Gilly’s first
impulse was to turn around and go back into the
house until Agnes had left, but it was too late.
Agnes was already waving and yelling at her.
What a creep! Gilly walked past her quickly
without speaking. She could hear Agnes’s little
scurrying steps behind her; then there was a dirty
hand on her arm.
Hmm. Gilly is having another problem with
someone. How does this interaction with Agnes fit
3-8 Summer Institute Reading Packet
Copyright 2011, Teachers College Reading and Writing Project
PLEASE DO NOT DUPLICATE
with her interactions with other people? Stop and
jot how this scene is the same or different from
other scenes.
Disgusted, Gilly shook it off. Agnes’s hand was
gone, but she hooked her chin over Gilly’s upper
arm, her face twisted up to look Gilly in the face.
Her breath smelled.
“What are we going to do today?” she asked.
Critiquing
Reacting to
the Text
- This part feels a little unrealistic to me
because it says…while I know from my
own experience that…
- Wait a minute…this part leads me to
think that… but that’s a stereotype!
- When I read this, I’m wondering what
this character’s point of view is about
the situation…
- Hmmm, is it fair that…. happened?
Maybe it’s fair because… (But maybe
it’s not fair because…)
- Wow, I need to pause there. I can’t
imagine…because before we read….
- When I read this, what instantly pops
into my head is that I just can’t believe/I
really believe…because…
- As I read this part, I find that I really
admire…because they…
- When I read this I’m worried/concerned
about…because I know…and this makes
me think…
- I’m going to read this part again, and I
want you and your partner to think and
talk about whether or not this seems
realistic to you, based on what you
know about…
- The author/character is saying…How
does that make you feel? Turn and
tell your partner.
- Often there are other ways of looking
at a situation. Turn and tell your
partner what another character might
be thinking right now…
- Think about the important parts of
what we’ve just read, turn and talk
with your partner about your thoughts
and feelings about what has happened.
- Let’s really think about this. What
would you think if…happened? How
does that help you understand about
the story/characters?
- Hmmm…how does this part change
or add to what you were thinking and
3-8 Summer Institute Reading Packet
Copyright 2011, Teachers College Reading and Writing Project
PLEASE DO NOT DUPLICATE
So we have had this idea that Gilly is mean to
people when she is afraid of getting
hurt…sometimes for good reason. Turn and Talk
to your partner about how this part fits with that
bigger idea.
Miss Ellis had once told her that Courtney was
from Virginia. Everybody knew, didn’t they, that
families like Courtney’s did not eat with colored
people? Courtney Rutherford Hopkins was sure to
go into a rage, wasn’t she, when she heard that
news?
Stop and Jot for a moment – what is Gilly really
saying here? What does this show that she
believes? What stereotypes might she have?
Agnes Stokes was waiting outside when she
started for school the next morning. Gilly’s first
impulse was to turn around and go back into the
house until Agnes had left, but it was too late.
Agnes was already waving and yelling at her.
What a creep! Gilly walked past her quickly
without speaking.
“Think about Agnes right now as a real person.
How do you feel about what is happening to her?
feeling before?
Turn and talk.”
She could hear Agnes’s little scurrying steps
behind her; then there was a dirty hand on her arm.
Disgusted, Gilly shook it off.
“What reaction are you having to what Gilly just
did to Agnes? Stop and jot.”
Reading Skill
Ways We Preface Think Alouds
During Read Aloud
Ways We Prompt Students to
Talk, Think or Write During Read
Aloud
Examples from The Great Gilly
Hopkins by Katherine Patterson
Making
Personal
Connections
- I am most like… This lets me know
I’m…This lets me know my character
is…
- One time I acted like…when I…This
makes me realize I’m…This makes me
think my character is…
- I know exactly how______ feels,
because… This teaches me that I’m…
This teaches me my character is or
isn’t…
- That reminds me of the time… This
makes me think I’m the kind of person
who… Maybe this character is the kind of
person who…
- Let’s take a minute to talk with your
partner about how your life, the things that
have happened, and people and
experiences that are part of your life are
like this story. How does that help you to
understand the story better?
- Before we read on, let’s think of times
when we may have felt the same way as
our character feels. What does that tell
you about the character? Turn and talk
with your partner.
- Have you or someone you know ever
experienced something like this? How
does that help you understand the story
better? Turn and talk with your partner.
The clamor of their answers clashed in
Gilly’s brain. She started to put her head
down on the desk, but someone was
shoving a book in her face.
It wasn’t fair—nothing was fair. She had
once seen a picture in an old book of a red
fox on a high rock surrounded by snarling
dogs. It was like that. She was smarter
than all of them, but they were too many.
3-8 Summer Institute Reading Packet
Copyright 2011, Teachers College Reading and Writing Project
PLEASE DO NOT DUPLICATE
“It seems like Gilly has a really bad
attitude here. Let’s see if we can think
about a time when we felt this way –
surrounded by people who wanted us to do
things we didn’t want to do, and really
frustrated – so we can understand Gilly
better. Turn and Talk.”