Following the Inner Conversation

I continually do this throughout my read alouds and the novel studies. I have been reading the first few pages in a chapter of City of Ember, when we get to a place that interest me, or shows foreshadowing, or an "aha" moment, I stop and tell them that I am going to say aloud what is going on inside my head. I discussed that it is important for your brain to have a conversation while you read. I explain that all good readers do it. It helps monitor comprehension, and voice my opinions. Sometimes I make a noise that means "lightbulb" when we get to a part that's particularly important to making a connection or interesting. I see the kids, all of a sudden, nod their heads, like they got it too...having that inner conversation. Many of my students admitted they did that but never thought about why they did. We discussed what if we're not having that inner conversation and the students brainstormed reasons why...lack of focus, not understanding the text because it was too high a level of reading, not interested in the topic, stress outside of school. We did not do sticky notes on this lesson, but we used shoulder partners from time to time, stopping them (training) them to make a connection.