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: Jennifer Nguyen
Strategy: KWL Chart
Content Area and ELA Standards:
● Math:
○ RFR.AF.3 Interpret key features of graphs and tables for a function that models a
relationship between two quantities in terms of the quantities.
● ELA:
○ 11-12.RL.9 Drawing on a wide range of time periods, analyze how two or more texts
treat similar themes or topics
Objective:
● Students will be able to compare the similarities between two real-world word problems and
their related set of graphs and tables for two functions that model a relationship between two
quantities by analyzing and interpreting the key features.

Strategy Awareness & Explanation (Purpose for selecting the strategy)

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

I decided to utilize a strategy within the “during” portion of the BDA where the students
are reading and rereading the text. The strategy chosen is KWL charts which is a
three-column chart that can help students get through all components of reading a text
selection. I chose this strategy because of the use of visuals and the organization of this
strategy. The chart helps students categorize their ideas by what they already know,
what they aim to learn, and what they actually learned. By gradually filling in the chart
throughout the activity, they can see their progress of ideas being built right in front of
them. Students are breaking down the text using a template of K: What you know, W:
What you want to know, and L: What you’ve learned. There will also be a whole-class
chart as an example for them to work through. Since I want to focus on the “during”
portion of the BDA, we will be emphasizing how they can dissect the text to help them
support and add to their prior knowledge. After the students have written about what
they know and want to learn, they will then dive into the think-aloud activity to help
them complete the chart and add to their existing knowledge. At the end of this strategy,
they will have a visual representation of their progress on this topic and notes that will
serve as a study guide.
Strategy Demonstration & Modeling (Think Aloud)
How will you model, explain, practice, and reinforce the rules or procedures of the strategy?
What the Text Says
“A new leader came into power in
1933. He was head of the National
Socialist, or Nazi party.
“To understand what limits are,
let's look at an example. We
start with the function
f(x)=x+2.”
“The limit of f at x=3 is the
value of f approaches as we get
closer and closer to x=3”
“Graphically, this is the y-value
we approach when we look at
the graph of f and get closer
and closer to the point on the
graph where x=3.”
“You might be asking yourselves
what’s the difference between
the limit of f at x=3 and the
value of f at x=3, i.e. f(3).”
“So yes, the limit of f(x)=x+2 at
x=3 is equal to f(3), but this isn’t at the graph and the points
always the case. To understand leading up to x=3, we can see
What I Say What Comprehension Strategy
I Model
“This part makes me ask all sorts of Asking questions
questions. Was Hitler elected the
head, like we elect presidents? Or was
he born into a family of leaders like a
king and queen.”
“Limits sound familiar. What can Asking questions and
we interpret about the word visualizing
limits? What does the function
f(x)=x+2 look like? Try to
imagine in your head what the
graph would look like.”
“This part is a lot. Let’s break it Predicting, inferences, and
down. How does the graph look asking questions
like as the function gets closer
and closer to x=3? In other
words, start to think about how
the output looks like when the
input, or x=1. How about x=2?
x=2.5? x=2.8? x=2.9?”
“Let’s refer back to our graph Identifying the main idea and
and break down this statement. summarization
It looks like a continuation of
our prior statement but
describes the limit more
specifically. We are looking at
the y-value’s behavior as we get
closer to our x-value of x=3”
“We talked about what the limit Inference and asking questions
may look like graphically.
Compare it to what the graph
looks like at the specific point of
x=3. What is the corresponding
output or y-value? Is there is a
difference? What is it?”
“In this specific case, as we look Summarizing, inference, and
asking questions
 this, let’s look at the function g.
This function is the same as f in
every way except that it’s
undefined at x=3”
that the limit is y=5. In other
words, as we approach x=3, we
see the output gets closer to
y=5. When we also look at the
value at x=3, or f(3), it is also
y=5. This won’t always be the
case. What does undefined
mean? Look at what would
happen if the function is
undefined at x=3.”

“Just like f, the limit at g at x=3
is 5. That’s because we can still
get very very close to x=3 and
the function’s values will get
very very close to 5. So the limit
at g at x=3 is equal to 5 but the
value of g at x=3 is undefined.
They are not the same!”
“This first half is summarizing Summarizing, asking questions,
what we always have and identifying the main idea
concluded. Does it support and summarization
what you’ve been thinking? The
second half dives into what
would happen if the function is
undefined at x=3. The
difference between the two is
that when the function is
undefined at x=3, the limit is
the same but now the value of
the function, or the output
when x=3 is undefined.”

“That’s the beauty of limits:
they don’t depend on the actual
value of the function at the
limit. They describe how the
function behaves when it gets
close to the limit.”
“What is your definition of Summarization and identifying
limits after reading the prior the main idea
statements? Has it changed
from the beginning to the end
of this session?”

Article: Introduction to Limits

Guided Practice
How will you have students practice the strategy with support?

Students will practice this strategy with support by working in groups and having an
example for them to follow when filling the chart. In their groups, they will begin by
listing out any prior knowledge, ideas, or questions they may have in the K- What we
know and W: What we want to know. Before they get into the article, they will work
together to fill out these columns following the prompt on the template document.
These columns should be any prior ideas they may have about limits. While they listen
and engage in my think-aloud recording, they will then fill out the last column of what
they learned. This column could be definitions, statements, connections, overall
takeaways. Since my think-aloud has built-in questions and things to consider, this may
help students break down the text and create their own view of this topic.

Strategy Application
How will students apply the strategy independently?

Students will apply the strategy independently by following along with the think-aloud
video and filling in the KWL Chart at their own pace while watching and engaging in the
video. At the beginning of the think-aloud, they will be asked to fill in the first two
columns listing what they already know and what they want to know. This may involve
questions, comments, topics learned prior to limits, and anything else related to the new
content. As they watch the think-aloud individually, they are able to pause and rewind
the video at their own pace to gather their ideas and fill out the last column of what
they learned from the activity. By working independently, they are able to fully emerge
in the activity with no time limit as they have the power to stop and go as they wish. The
chart should serve as a chart of progression that demonstrates what they came in
knowing, and what they got out of it by the end.

Reflection Write a 2-3 paragraph detailed reflection about your teaching experience based on 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 helped support my instruction and student learning because it gave me almost an outline
of a script of purposeful questions and ideas to emphasize while presenting the text to the students. It
helped me as a teacher gather my thoughts into one place and be prepared to dive into breaking down
the text. It was similar to a lesson plan template but a more detailed version for any strategies used in a
think-aloud context. The structure gave me a plan of the entire activity and emphasized why the
strategy was chosen and how it would benefit students in both guided and independent practices. It
also serves as a template to hand out to students who aren’t a fan of audio or videos to watch. It can
also be another guide to hand out to students to support the differentiation of notes and activities. By
writing down my thoughts and what the students could take away from this activity, it highlighted the
benefits of how I can utilize this within my discipline.
In my math classroom, this strategy emphasizes reading and writing literacy in a place they might not
think exists. In other words, it will demonstrate the connections between the two disciplines and how
they go hand in hand with one another when it comes to developing a deeper understanding of the
content. This strategy supports learning in mathematics because it helps the students practice skills
such as critical thinking, analyzing, breaking down, annotations, and asking questions. These literacy
skills are important to have if the student wants to be able to interpret and solve mathematical
problems and learn its concepts. The strengths in this strategy included flexibility, versatility, and the
usage of visuals. The KWL Chart works with any topics through any discipline and can be remodeled to
be used in a remote setting, in class, through anchor charts, digitally, and on paper. It’s different from
the usual note-taking too as we are using a visual chart. For areas of growth, I could have emphasized
more student-thinking by asking more leading questions rather than summarizations of the text. I
believe both are useful but if I aim for the student to develop their thinking and understanding of the
concepts, I can implement more statements that push their thought processes.