Using Digital Think-Alouds to Reflect on Writerly Choices

Amber White, literacy coach and reading specialist, shares ideas on how to implement digital think-alouds in the classroom.  This conference is all about meta-cognition (http://zapt.io/txkfpm2v), and how students can use think-alouds to create an understanding of their choices in writing pieces.  

“Students who can verbalize their thinking have deeper understanding.”  This emphasis on meta-cognition shows the relevance for using these think-alouds to allow students to articulate choices they make and how it impacts their writing.  White shares that it is important for students to not only share what worked, but also to explain when their choices didn’t work and why.  These think-alouds strengthen students’ meta-cognitive skills, and also may influence their choices in consequent writing assignments.  

          Wonderopolis (http://wonderopolis.org/) is a website that offers daily “wonderings” about the world we live in.  As White explains, these wonderings are written by adults.  She thought “Why not students?”  and had some students explore their own wonderings.  Here is an example of both a wonder project and a digital think-aloud:

 

Student wonders (5th grade): http://rfsummerinstitute14.weebly.com/digital-wonders.html

Student wonder project with think-aloud:  http://screencast.com/t/qUsm1sOG 

White experimented with two contrasting wonder assignments, one with more traditional parameters and one with a more reflective stance.  Here are the parameters for the two assignments:

http://tinyurl.com/design-pros-cons

          Which do you think would be more effective?  Why?

        This conference showed how important it is for students to explore their choices using think-alouds.  I am excited to embrace this idea and allow for more time for my students to reflect and articulate their choices in writing.  I am hoping to use a screencasting tool on the student Chromebooks, however, White offers some alternatives (podcasts, pictures, Garageband) if screencasting tools are not available.