What is it? 
  • Pupils say out loud what they are thinking about when reading, solving math problems, or simply responding to questions posed by teachers or other students. 
  • Pupils demonstrate practical ways of approaching difficult problems while bringing to the surface the complex thinking processes that underlie reading comprehension, mathematical problem solving, and other cognitively demanding tasks. 
Good for what? 
  • Thinking out loud is an excellent way to teach 
  • how to estimate the number of people in a crowd, 
  • revise a paper for a specific audience, 
  • predict the outcome of a scientific experiment, 
  • use a key to decipher a map, 
  • access prior knowledge before reading a new passage, 
  • monitor comprehension while reading a difficult textbook.  

What is it important? 
  • As pupils think out loud, they learn how to learn. 
  • They learn to think as authors, mathematicians, anthropologists, economists, historians, scientists, and artists.
  • By listening in as students think aloud, teachers can diagnose students' strengths and weakness. 
  • "When teachers use assessment techniques such as observations, conversations and interviews with students, or interactive journals, students are likely to learn through the process of articulating their ideas and answering the teacher's questions" 
  • Source: (National Council of Teachers of Mathematics 2000).   
Example (Science) 
  • Hmmmm. The grasshopper is a living animal. It needs water, food and air to stay alive. If we keep the grasshopper in a jar, it is important not to close the lid. If I close the lid, the air in the jar will be used up by the grasshopper for breathing and eventually it will die. Fresh grass must be provided each day otherwise it will starve to death. I don’t think it can survive for more than one day without food and water. But if it has eaten a lot of grass before being caught, I think it can stay alive a longer period, most probably two or three days.  
Assessment 
  • As students think out loud through a problem-solving process, such as reflecting on the steps used to solve a problem in math, write what they say. 
  • This allows you to observe which strategies students use. 
  • By analyzing the results, you can pinpoint the individual student's needs and provide appropriate instruction. 
  • Assign a task, such as solving a specific problem. 
  • Introduce the task to students by saying, "I want you to think aloud as you complete the task: say everything that is going on in your mind." 
  • As students complete the task, listen carefully and write down what students say. 
  • It may be helpful to use a tape recorder. 
  • If students forget to think aloud, ask open-ended questions: "What are you thinking now?" and "Why do you think that?" 
  • After the think-alouds, informally interview students to clarify any confusion that might have arisen during the think-aloud. 
  • For example, "When you were thinking aloud, you said . . . Can you explain what you meant?"
  • Use a rubric as an aid to analyze each student's think-aloud, and use the results to shape instruction.
  • Think-alouds can be used to model the inquiry process in science. 
  • During instruction, have students continue the inquiry process using reciprocal think-alouds and then reflect upon the process in their journals or learning logs.