reading

Introduce Reading Voice and Thinking Voice

In many respects, reading is harder to teach than writing— mainly because it’s invisible. Writing has a product. After a student writes, the teacher has something to look at, point out, and talk about with the student.

Because reading does not include any visible product, and students drop their heads and look at the text, there is no way to know what’s going on inside their heads until they look up and share their thinking. Consequently, teachers must work diligently to make the reading process and their comprehension instruction concrete and visible.

Make reading visible

An effective way to make reading visible is to use graphic icons to explain that readers listen to multiple “voices.” These include the Reading Voice and the Thinking Voice.

You read a little (Reading Voice), and you have a thought (Thinking Voice). You read a little more, and you have another thought. It’s the invisible conversation between the Reading Voice and Thinking Voice that produces comprehension.

Examples of the Thinking Voice in action:

• Making connections: Hey, that happened to me before or That’s like the last chapter when…
• Asking questions: How come…? Why did…? Where is…?
• Creating visualizations: Although there are no pictures, I totally can see this happening in my mind.
• Retellings/summarizations: So to recap,___ happened, then___, then___.
• Identifying the main idea: This part was all about….
• Synthesizing after reading multiple texts: When I really think about this, I’m realizing….

Model a reader’s voices

After introducing the graphic icon that represents the “reader voices,” plan to model it with a Think Aloud so that students can see and hear the teacher’s voices in action. Using a short text/excerpt, explain that when your finger moves under each word and you read it aloud, this will represent your Reading Voice. And, whenever your finger pauses, and you physically lean to the side and whisper aloud, that represents the thoughts of your Thinking Voice.

Model the Reading Voice and Thinking Voice with several different texts—for days! Model the reader voices in literature, informational text, and content-area texts. Model the reader voices when reading pictures, videos, and audio texts, too.

Below is a sample of such a Think Aloud:

READING VOICE: [Point at each word while reading the text aloud.]

Thinking Voice: [Pen pauses on word as you lean to the side to whisper.] Okay, so that reminds me of the last chapter when he got in trouble for doing that. I’m predicting that he’s going to get in trouble again.

READING VOICE: [Continues.]

Thinking Voice: I was right; he did get in trouble again.

READING VOICE: [Continues.]

Thinking Voice: Okay, I don’t know that word, so I will back up just a little bit to see if I can use context clues to figure that out.

READING VOICE: [Continues.]

Thinking Voice: Okay, I’m thinking that word means–.

READING VOICE: [Continues.]

Thinking Voice: Now there are no pictures on this page, but I can imagine the steam coming out of the mom’s ears. I can imagine stomping. I even hear the stomping of her foot on the floor. I’m totally visualizing this scene.

Clarify that readers are thinkers

After the Think Aloud, anticipate student’s expressions. Many will be shocked at how many thoughts you had within that short passage. Some students may even question if they have such a Thinking Voice. Assure them that they do, although it may be on mute! They need to turn up the volume and tune into it to hear it.

Reiterate that the Thinking Voice is a whisper. Caution students against speeding through the text simply word calling with their Reading Voices. When readers pause to listen to their Thinking Voices, they will achieve greater comprehension of the texts they read.

To encourage students to listen for the whispers of their own Thinking Voices, provide them their own mini-signs (Black & White | Color | Spanish) or Thinking Tubes.

Digital Text: 1 | 2

English Version | Spanish Version

Purchase a set of Comprehension Voice Signs to use in your classroom.

Purchase a set of Comprehension Voice Signs to use in your classroom.

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