Think Aloud Planning Sheet

Directions for Full Credit: Use the think aloud strategy planning sheet below to plan your strategy instruction. Please submit
this completed template to Canvas with the reflection.
Name: Diareli Bustamante
Strategy: Margin Notes
Content Area and ELA Standards:
7.L1U1.8 Obtain, evaluate, and communicate information to provide evidence that all living things are
made of cells, cells come from existing cells, and cells are the basic structural and functional unit of all
living things.
(6-8.RST.1) Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of science and technical texts.
Objective:
● Students will use the “margin notes” reading strategy to annotate the assigned reading and
afterwards will explain in a paragraph how a)the history of cells and their discovery contributed
to the development of the cell theory and b) how these findings are still impactful/relevant
today.
Text:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1pwMppYdbuBehGjqQ_whXzN3l3wqQJ7J1i-1u-pCrxSk/edit?usp=sharing

Link to Screencast: https://www.loom.com/share/d85339f8777c4559b07895f0429b8e2c

Strategy Awareness & Explanation (Purpose for selecting the strategy)

How will provide students with a clear picture of the why and how?

The margin notes strategy was selected for this reading because it has students identify
important details or concepts in the text, make connections with the reading, and allows them
to pose questions. This activity has students read analytically and at a deeper level. In science,
a lot of the time topics are taught without providing students background information about
how a theory was developed or a phenomenon was discovered. In this reading students are
provided a “behind the scenes” view of cells because they are exposed to the history of the cell
and how it was discovered. This will help them see how the events outlined in the article
contributed to the development of the cell theory and how this discovery still applies today. It
also allows for them to ask questions about anything they may be left wondering about. They
can then do research to answer those questions for themselves or bring them up in the class
discussion.

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Strategy Demonstration & Modeling (Think Aloud)
How will you model, explain, practice, and reinforce the rules or procedures of the strategy?

What the Text Says What I Say What Comprehension Strategy

I Model
“each and every living being on  Hey look, it just outlined the three Noting important details
Earth is comprised of cells. This  parts of the cell theory which we just
idea, part of the cell theory, is one  learned about.
of the central tenants of biology.  ● All organisms are made of
Cell theory also states that cells are  cells
the basic functional unit of living  ● The cell is the basic building
organisms and that all cells come  block of life
from other cells.” ● Every cell comes from
another existing cell

“The discovery of the cell would not
have been possible if not for
advancements to the microscope.
Interested in learning more about the
microscopic world, scientist Robert
Hooke improved the design of the
existing compound microscope in
1665.”
Thanks to microscope advancements, Noting important details and asking
the cell was discovered. It says Robert questions
Hooke improved the design of the
compound microscope so who made
the first microscope?

“To him, the cork looked as if it was
made of tiny pores, which he came to
call "cells" because they reminded him
of the cells in a monastery.”
Okay so this is actually kind of Noting important details
interesting it tells us that cells got their
name because of their structure and
appearance. Robert Hooke named
them after something they reminded
him of.

“Antonie van Leeuwenhoek detected
other hidden,
minuscule organisms — bacteria and
protozoa...He was a master microscope
maker and
perfected the design of the simple
microscope”
Dutch Scientist Antonie Van Noting important details
Leeuwenhoek perfected the simple
microscope and discovered bacteria
and protozoa. Coined small creatures
animacules

“He even took a look at the plaque This reminds of when Ms. Villalobos Making connections
between his teeth under the said we would get to look at our cheek
microscope..."I then most always saw, cells under a microscope for our unit
with great wonder, that in the said on cells.
matter there were many very little
living animalcules, very prettily
a-moving."

“Scientists could readily tell that
plants were completely made up of
cells due to their cell wall. However,
this was not so obvious for animal
cells, which lack a cell wall. Many
scientists believed that animals were
What are globules? Noting Important details and asking
Initially scientists held the questions
misconception that animals were not
made up of cells. It shows that
scientists aren’t always correct the first
time and that science can change.

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 made of ‘globules’.”

Guided Practice
How will you have students practice the strategy with support?
1. Read through text and stop at pre-established stopping points. At this point model
a comprehension strategy for the students and verbally express my thought
processing. Also, will further explain activity expectations.
2. Read through the text some more but this time use guided practice to work
through the text with the students.
3. Have students read independently and practice the strategy. At this point they
have seen me model the strategy and we have done guided practice so they
should be able to practice on their own. During this time I would check-in with
students to monitor their progress and answer any questions they may have.

Strategy Application
How will students apply the strategy independently?
Students will read the rest of their article individually and use margin notes to make
connections, ask questions, and note important details in the reading. Since this activity
is being completed online, instead of using actual sticky notes, they will be commenting
on the google doc to add their margin notes.

Reflection Write a 2-3 paragraph detailed reflection about your teaching experience based off your
own self-assessment.
● How did the structure (awareness & explanation, demonstration & modeling, guided practice,
application) help support your instruction and student learning?
● How does this strategy support learning in your discipline specifically?
● What were your strengths, and areas for growth (please consider both your planning and your
instruction of the strategy).

The structure of this guided reading activity allowed me to demonstrate to students exactly how they
should engage in reading when using the margin notes strategy. Since I clearly modeled everything that
they are supposed to do, the expectations for this activity should be clear to students.

Science articles are dense and packed with information so it is important for students to be making
notes as they read. Just underlining facts or highlighting information is not really useful because when
students look back to their reading, they may not remember why they chose to highlight/underline
information. Also, to really make meaning of what is written, they need to connect it to something they
know, identify what the important information says, and ask questions that will help them understand
concepts they are not sure of.

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My strength for this activity was modifying it to work in an online environment. I used technology that
was easily accessible to my students and I to make this work for the both of us. I feel that I also planned
out my stopping points well. I had a sort of an informal script that I thought about to make my
presentation of the reading strategy organized and clear to students. One area I do need to grow in is
maintaining my energy levels high throughout the entire presentation. I started off very strong and
excited, but towards the end my tone slightly changed.