TASK 4 Preparing and Presenting

A Think Aloud

EDUC-319

Michael Inglish

Michael Inglish
EDUC-319
11/10/2014
SUMMARY/REFLECTION
Some Reasons Why We Oppose Votes for Women
1.) The think aloud that was used to teach the lesson.
I used the Modeling Thinking Out Loud method to teach this lesson. I read the first
paragraph out loud to the students. I then had them read it to themselves. After they all finished
reading it I simply explained my process of what I thought, how I thought, my predictions, and
generally how it made me feel.
I then explained that we would examine, discuss, and share our thoughts on each
paragraph. They were to write on a separate piece of paper one of the following sentences to
start the thinking process:

This made me think of

I reread that part because
I think the most important part was
So far, Ive learned

2.) What you learned about the importance of using a think aloud to increase
comprehension.
I really enjoyed the think aloud. I learned that the best way for students to interact in the
classroom discussion is to simply ask their personal opinion and ask them to explain why. This
class was 12th graders and they really liked to talk about what they thought and felt.
The first 10 minutes they were confused, but once I convinced them that I truly wanted to
know what they thought it was a great lesson. Mrs. Parsons really enjoyed the lesson as well.
She liked it so much she asked me to come back 7th period and teach that class the same lesson.
3.) Describe how you used this strategy to help your students, being certain to discuss its
effectiveness.
My initial goal was to teach this lesson from a different perspective than the students are
used to receiving. Students are taught woman suffrage from the womens point of view. This is
1

Michael Inglish
EDUC-319
11/10/2014
fine for students 10-20 years ago. Todays students want to know more and need to understand
multiple points of view in order to fully participate in the lesson.
I chose to teach woman suffrage from the mens point of view. I introduced this letter,
Some Reasons Why We Oppose Votes for Women, and showed different political cartoons
that were from the mens perspectives in order for the students to understand both sides of the
argument. Women fighting for the right to vote are always taught by introducing the key women
figures that fought the good fight and finally helped women win the right to vote. I chose to
show how men were so full of themselves back then and just how these men truly saw
themselves and the women of their time.
Overall the lesson went really well. Nearly every single student participated in the
discussions. They were very receptive and volunteered their thought process and feelings to the
group for debate. Some of the summaries written by the students were well written. They
provided excellent feedback and shared their honest feelings in a respectful and most of all
thoughtful way. I attached 2 of the students writings for examples. I truly enjoyed this lesson
and I believe the students did as well.