Stump the Teacher

Time: 1 – 2 hours
Goal: Model the “think aloud” process by showing how one can approach an unfamiliar text by
using pre-knowledge of genre, structure, and purpose.

Step 1. Prior to class (ideally about a week before the class in which this exercise will occur),
break students into groups of 3 – 4. Each group is assigned a genre of “text” from the following list:
• Poem
• Newspaper article
• Map
• Passage from a school textbook
• Instruction manual
• Political cartoon
• Scientific report
• Editorial/Letter to the editor
• Advertisement
• Artwork

Step 2. Each member of a group has a few days to seek out an example of their group’s text
which seems challenging, complex, or confusing. The day before the exercise, each group reconvenes to
share with one another the text they’ve chosen, and decide as a group which text they will submit to the
teacher. Having chosen their text, each group delivers that text to the teacher.

Step 3. Without reviewing the texts beforehand, the teacher chooses one at random or simply
begins at the top of the list above. Displaying the text overhead, the teacher then begins the Read Aloud
process, combining it with annotations as necessary. Spend only 5 – 10 minutes per text.
As the teacher reads, pay special attention to the following areas, pointing out background
knowledge, assumptions, or other connections as a way to interpet the text.
• Title, if known
• Author, if known
• Genre purpose and intended audience
• Structure — introduction/beginning
• Unknown terms/words and how to unpack them through context clues
• Symbols and signifiers
• Outside sources referred to within the text
• Text’s intended message and how to identify it
• Confusing passages or portions

Step 4. Students spend five minutes writing about what they observed the teacher doing.
Specifically, they should write about times they’ve done something similar, having to write in an
unfamiliar genre and whether they used any of the same strategies to understand that genre. Also write
about moments where they had an idea or inference that would have helped understand one of the
texts, and which method seemed the most effective.

Step 5. Returning to their groups, discuss the outcome and compare notes from Step 4. Was
anything surprising? Elect a member of the group to take notes on this discussion, then report their
findings to the entire class.