Thinking Aloud to Determining Importance

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Thinking Aloud toDetermining Importance

• Finding Themes in Books We Love
• Brave Irene by William Steig

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What is determining importance?

• Three kinds of knowledge are considered when
  teaching strategies declarative knowledge or
  what is the strategy procedural knowledge or how
  to do the strategy and conditional knowledge or
  why and when to do the strategy (Almasi, 2003).

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Determining Importance Declarative Knowledge

• Declarative Knowledge (What?) finding themes in
  text finding issues of great significance
  deciding importance at word, sentence, and whole
  text level. (Fluency helps me determine
  importance by thinking about the authors message
  and how the text should be read. It is also
  important to pay attention to the text
  structure.)
• Determining importance means revealing that which
  may not be denied or ignored, those key themes
  and ideas that hide below the surface and may go
  unnoticed if we dont bring them to our conscious
  attention. Determining importance implies going
  beyond what becomes so familiar to me that I no
  longer see it.

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Determining ImportanceProcedural Knowledge

• Procedural knowledge (How to determine
  importance?)
• Pay attention to the title. Asking What do the
  characters say and do? Pay close attention to
  what is repeated. Pay attention to pictures and
• words. After finding the theme, go back and find
  evidence that supports the thinking.
• Whats inside your head and where did you find
  the themes, and then check
• ideas against the reviewers.
• Show thinking and reasoning by grasping the
  essential ideas in the reading,
• those ideas that cannot be ignored. Thinking
  about how the text reminds you of your
• life is one way of determining importance. Often
  great readers decide something is
• important because they have background knowledge
  in that area. It is hard to
• determine what is important in text when there is
  a new idea or two in every sentence.
• Thats how nonfiction is written and one must be
  aware in nonfiction texts. Great
• readers listen to the voice that is in their head
  saying which words, sentences, and
• paragraphs are most important. Highlighting
  important words and sentences can help.
• Proficient readers make decisions about what is
  important at three levels
• Whole text level
• Sentence level
• Word level.

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Conditional knowledge continued

• The eyes of proficient readers focus longer on
  words that carry more
• weight of the meaning. These key words are called
  contentives.
• These words hold the sentences meaning. So, in a
  study of
• determining importance, start with word/sentence
  level and be
• aware of text that is considerate as well as
  inconsiderate. Have
• criteria in mind about how to select a few key
  themes and leave the rest
• out. Understand that its the purpose for
  reading, along with
• personal beliefs, experiences, or prior
  knowledge, and knowledge of the
• audience that govern what is important in any

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Follow along

• Join in a think aloud process to emphasize the
  strategy of determining importance.
• Determining importance is an important strategy
  when doing vocabulary work.
• William Steig is an author to study for
  developing vocabulary and motivation.
• Lets try Brave Irene

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Determining ImportanceConditional Knowledge

• Conditional knowledge (When Why?) Determine
  importance in fiction and nonfiction by
• looking closely at the text structure
  every time you read. Each time you read,
  determine importance
• when you determine your reading purpose.
  Use your schema, beliefs and opinions as well
  as what others are saying and doing while
  reading. Do all of this to determining
  importance. Determining importance helps you
  remember the story and get a deeper meaning from
  the text. This strategy
• helps you carry on conversations about
  what you read at very high levels. Determining
  importance helps you to reason and get past ideas
  that are surface ideas. Using this strategy, you
  can state the case as a reader and argue a stance
  by pulling examples from the text.
• Important parts of determining importance are
  reading critically, throwing out
• propaganda and inaccurate information
  because it helps determine what is important.
• Deciding what is important is also
  deciding what isnt worth remembering. Make
  instant decisions about what is important at
  word, sentence, and text level.
• Decisions about what is important are
  based on purpose, schema, beliefs,
• opinions, experiences, schema for text
  structure, concepts another reader mentions
• prior to, during or after reading.
  Frequently pointing out what is a non-example or
• unimportant helps when you read.
  Interesting discussion takes place when you and
  friends argue points of importance. You will
  have to defend positions and give reasons for
  determining importance.

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Pay Attention to the Title

• Brave Irene by William Steig.
• The main character must be Irene and she is
  brave. Read to find out why she is so brave.
• I predict it has something to do with a box and
  the weather.

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What do the Characters Say and Do?

• Irene cares for her mother, Poor Mama, I can
  get the dress there.
• Irene tells her mother not to worry about the
  delivery of the dress she loves the snow. I love
  the snow.

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The wind and Irene battle
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Irene talks herself out of giving up and freezing
to death..
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Pay close attention to what is repeated

• Continually Steig repeats and pits little Irene
  against big strong odds such as the weather,
  great distance, and cold weather.
• Irene perseveres against these obstacles.

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Pay attention to pictures and words

• The pictures show Irene battling the wind and
  weather. Steig shows the wind at his ugliest when
  he is pushing Irene down.
• In an explosion of fury, she flung herself free
  and was able to climb to her knees and look
  around. How to get to that glittering palace? As
  soon as she raised the question, she had the
  answer.

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Once you have found the theme

• Go back through and find evidence that supports
  your thinking.
• Think about whats inside your head
• Where did you find the themes
• Check your ideas against the book reviewers..