Metacognitive Teaching Strategies

“Learn to Think and Think to Learn” - Fusco & Fountain

21st Century Learners

All educators need to provide their students with opportunities to learn a wide variety of metacognitive strategies so that they become autonomous, self-monitoring, independent, 21st century learners.

It is imperative students think about their own learning in order to be successful both within and outside of the school setting.

What is Megacognition?

Many people are unaware of their own thinking process.

Therefore, students need to be specifically taught strategies on how to think about thinking.

What is the role of the student?

Students need to regulate their own thinking through planning, monitoring, evaluating, and reflecting on their learning.

They need to know when, how, and what to do in the

learning process.

Students also need knowledge of themselves.

Talk about a wake up call!

My Own Findings In my Spanish 1 class of twenty-six students, only four knew what

kind of learners they are.

In that same class, only three students said that they are aware of and use specific study strategies.

The remainder of the class believed learning only involved showing up to class, and possessed little knowledge about learning strategies.

The majority of the class said that if they do not understand the material the first time it is presented, they are unsure of the steps to take to improve their comprehension.

What is the role of the teacher? Teachers need to:

• provide opportunities to practice metacognitive strategies.

• be persistent and patient because it requires time to develop these skills.

• model the strategies and scaffold when necessary. • be aware of developmental differences among students.

Developmental Differences: 4 levels Tacit Learner = Is not aware of their learning

Aware Learner = Knows about some kinds of thinking, but is not strategic in the learning process

Strategic Learner = Organizes their thinking by using problem-solving skills

Reflective Learner =

Is strategic, reflects and revises learning strategies when needed

The Language of Metacognition

In order for students to be able to internalize cognitive vocabulary, the teacher must integrate it into daily lessons as much as possible.

Explain

List Predict

ReflectClassify

Hypothesize

Justify

What Are Some Useful Strategies?

Our “Metacognitive Tool Kit”

Useful strategies in our “Took Kit”

•Thinking Aloud

•Thinking Journals

•Thinking with Mnemonics

•Thinking Maps

•Thinking as a Reader

• Thinking with Questioning

•Thinking while Studying

Thinking Aloud

One of the biggest misconceptions of students is that teachers were born able to accomplish all tasks easily.

• This is why teachers need to 1st model appropriate thinking strategies necessary to solve problems, improve understanding, teach how and when to implement specific strategies, as well as share some problems they’ve encountered along the way.

• Examples: decoding a word, analyzing text, use of mnemonic devices, graphic organizers, etc.

Thinking Aloud Continued…• Students should be provided opportunities to first work in larger groups until they are comfortable verbalizing their thoughts. • Teachers are then able to point out possible problems or misunderstandings while listening to students share their ideas aloud. • Students need to be aware that verbalizing thoughts while reading has been proven to lead to better comprehension and test scores.

• Effective problem solvers restate the situation, recheck progress, and evaluate whether or not thinking is moving in an appropriate direction.

• Thinking aloud also helps to develop self-questioning techniques that allow students to evaluate their knowledge of the material.

Thinking Aloud: Classroom Snapshot

Q: How can I integrate the think aloud strategy into my lessons to engage students’ metacognitive skills?

A: One way is to start explicitly modeling how I talk myself through various problem-solving situations. For example, I will start off by verbalizing how I know how to pronounce a word in Spanish correctly by using phonetic rules. I can also use it to demonstrate how I make meaning of new vocabulary. For instance, the verb “Pensar” means “to think” in Spanish. I remember this because I know that the word pensive in English means to be deep in thought. Therefore I’m using prior-knowledge with new material.

Goal: I am going to model how I use the Think Aloud strategy while reading. I want students to start asking themselves, “Did I understand what I just read?”, “Can I put what I just read into my own words?”, “Can I explain what I read to someone else?”, and “Do I have any prior-knowledge I can bring to this reading?”

Thinking Journals

• Journaling is an active learning tool that provides students the opportunity to reflect and recognize how they think, and captures their 1st response or reaction to the material.

• Students are then able to see metacognitive growth by looking back at previous journal entries, and viewing teacher feedback.

• This strategy allows students to become conscious of what they learned by exploring, questioning, and connecting prior knowledge to new material. If they can’t explain what they have learned, then they don’t understand it well enough yet.

Thinking Journals Continued…

• There are 2 formats: Structured (double entry journals or dialogue journals) & Unstructured (free writing)

• Possible Uses: • to record ideas from a lecture, movie, presentation, field

trip, or reading assignment• to make predictions about stories/movies, experiments,

or a school/national/world event• to record questions• to summarize the main ideas of a book, movie, lecture, or

reading• to brainstorm, or record problem-solving techniques.

* Journaling is a vehicle to organize, summarize, and verbalize thinking

Thinking Journals: Classroom Snapshot

Q: How can I integrate thinking journals into my lessons to engage students’ metacognitive skills?

A: At the beginning of the year I gave each of my Spanish III students a journal to utilize throughout the course. In their journals I have them write predictions in the target language as to what they think will be the outcome before reading the short stories in our textbook. I also have them summarize the main idea of readings or video clips. For longer journal writings, they are to always brainstorm their thoughts prior to starting the writing process. This way, I can read the journals and give immediate feedback on their thoughts, use of new vocabulary, and comprehension.

I would like to start having the students record questions they have throughout the lessons so I can read their entry at the end of each lesson and see what what concepts I need to review again. This would be helpful for my students who are shy and don’t like to ask questions during class, and therefore often don’t get any clarification.

Thinking with Mnemonic Devices

Kinds of Mnemonic Devices & Examples

Acronym = Take the first letter of each important word and create a word with it.

Example 1: In Spanish I use the acronym WEDDING to teach when to use the subjunctive mood. Wish/will

Emotion

Denial

Doubt

Impersonal Expressions

Negation

God (hoping for something) Example 2: To teach the difference between “Ser” and “Estar”, two verbs that both mean “to be” I use P.L.A.C.E. (Position, Location, Condition, Emotion). If the example fits within this acronym, then the students know it is “estar”, and not “ser”.

Kinds of Mnemonic Devices & Examples

Acrostic = Create a sentence using the first letter of each word that connects to the information being learned.

Example: I used this acrostic to help my Spanish 1 students remember the Spanish-speaking countries in Central AmericaGreat Eagles Sore High Nonstop Catching Prey. This stands for; Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and Panamá.

*I chose this one to model for them because our school mascot is the eagle, so it was easy for the students to remember.

Kinds of Mnemonic Devices & Examples

Chaining = Take the items or terms and weave them into a story to help remember them. Remember, the more creative, the better!

Example: This is a short story to help students remember when to use the Imperfect past tense instead of the Preterit past tense.

María always had a bad Habit of talking too much. She would give way too many descriptions, and it felt like hours for her to set the scene. One day, her mother told her, “It’s time you start acting your age!” The weather is nice outside, so stop talking to me and go outside and play. María’s feelings were hurt and she felt a new emotion of sadness. She decided that from now on she was never going to stop talking. No one knows when she started talking or if she stopped. Her talking is a real action in progress!

Kinds of Mnemonic Devices & Examples

Keyword = Create a mental picture by associating two key items.

Example: To help students remember vocabulary words, I have my students try and visual funny images to help them recall the word. This is an example they came up with during our reflexive verb unit.

Lavarse = To washMy students came up with a picture someone washing with lava to kill the germs. (Their picture actually had red lava coming out of the shower instead of water).

Kinds of Mnemonic Devices & Examples

Rhymes or phrases = Create a catchy phrase or jingle to help remember information.

Example: To help students remember demonstrative adjectives in Spanish 2, I teach them this rhyme.

This and these have “T’s”, that and those do not.

Demonstrative Adjectives:This = Este/Esta That = Ese/Esa

These Estos/Estas Those = Esos/Esas

Why Use Mnemonic Devices?• The use of mnemonic tools help students to construct, connect, and relate their thinking to new content.

• Mnemonic devices offer a systematic approach for organizing material, and remember facts that have no apparent link.

• Using mnemonic devices facilitates memory because the brain does not easily encode written information, as well as engages a student’s thought process.

• This metacognitive strategy is particularly helpful for students with learning disabilities.

• People who use mnemonic devices learn 2 to 3 times more information than those who don’t

•Students who use mnemonic devices outperform their peers on tests.

• The information is also easy to access at later points, because the brain has stored it in its long-term memory.

Thinking Maps

An effective metacognitive strategy to

visually organize

ideas.

Why use Thinking Maps aka Graphic Organizers?

• Thinking Maps help students to organize their thoughts by visually representing and depicting the relationships between facts, terms, and ideas within a lesson because the mind arranges and stores information in an orderly fashion.

•Students are able to show sequential order, compare and contrast, show cause and effect, and classify information, which all call for higher-level thinking that engages the learner.

• By using graphic organizers, students are able to distinguish between main ideas, smaller ideas, and supporting details.

• Students can then use their graphic organizer to participate in group discussions or put their findings into a writing.

How do I use Thinking Maps in my Spanish classes?

One of my favorite kinds of thinking map is the Venn Diagram. One example is when I had my students compare a mural by Diego River called “El Baile en Tehuantepec” with a photograph of teenagers in Mexico at a Quinceañera.The students had to compare and contrast what the people in the two pictures were wearing, as well as the setting for both. This allowed students to practice Spanish while also using higher-level thinking skills.

I also have students use K-W-L charts for cultural lessons. For example, my Spanish 1 students filled one out for my “Día de los Muertos” (Day of the Dead) lesson. By filling this chart out, students were able to clarify misconceptions they had about this holiday being just like our Halloween. There were also able to organize their thoughts after learning the information to be able to write an informational essay.

Thinking as a Reader“Reading without reflecting is like eating without

digesting.” - Edmund Burke

Thinking as a Reader

• Good readers self-regulate and try to make sense of the text as they interact with it.

• Simply reading words is not reading, students must be able to comprehend the message the author is trying to get across.

• A good reader is able to utilize a variety of reading strategies to aid in comprehension.

Thinking as a ReaderMy Spanish classes are ideal for modeling reading strategies on a regular basis at all levels of abilities.

Here are some of the concepts I teach and model for the students before all reading assignments:

1. I first have students preview the headings, subheadings, and look for any pictures.

2. They are then to predict what the reading will be about based off of their findings.

3. Next, they are to think of any prior knowledge they have about this particular topic.

4. If there are comprehension questions that accompany the text, they should also preview these before reading so they know what information to look for.

Thinking as a ReaderThese are the during reading strategies I model for them:

• Good readers will always assess whether or not they comprehended the text. If not, they go back and reread the material at a slower pace.

• You should break reading assignments into smaller chunks. After each segment, see if you can summarize in your own words what you just read. If you can’t, you probably didn’t understand it well enough and should go back and reread.

• If you are unsure of a word, try and use context clues or prior knowledge to figure it out. If not knowing the word is interfering with understanding, then look it up in a dictionary.

Thinking as a ReaderStrategies I Use In My Classroom

•In order to slow down students while reading, especially in Spanish, I have them take turns reading aloud back and forth with a partner.

•After each paragraph, they are to help each other summarize what they just read. If they don’t know, they are to utilize the strategies they learned.

•Sometimes, I also tie in thinking maps by having the students organize the information as they go. I have found it helpful to actually have the students do these in English rather than Spanish because they cannot copy directly from the text without knowing what it is saying.

•My Spanish 3 class uses journals to practice writing their reactions, thoughts, and opinions in the target language based off of a reading they have just completed.

Thinking With Questioning

“Successful people ask better questions, and as a result, they get better answers.”

-Tony Robbins

The “Art” of Questioning

Not all questions are created equally. The ability to create strategic questions, also known as the “art” of questioning is not something most of us are born with. It is learned over time with practice, and the pay off is that it leads us toward higher-level, complex thinking.

Valuable questions also results in self-reflection, self-monitoring, and self-regulating.

What Research Has Found About Questioning in the Classroom

• Many educators don’t vary the approach to questioning in order to maximize student learning.

• Teachers use a great deal of instructional time asking questions. (About 20-60 questions in a class period)

• Many of the questions asked are fact-based, lower level questions, that don’t motivate the learners.

• Questioning has been shown to be effective before, during, and after instruction.

Reflection On My Questioning Techniques

• I call on a lot of the same students everyday, and need to start involving all students to ensure their success. The more students answer and ask questions, the better they do.

• In my lower level Spanish classes I have been asking fact-based questions with only one correct answer. This does not motivate students or encourage higher-level thinking.

• Good questions must be planned in advanced and reflected on after lessons.

• I need to provide time for the students to process the question before calling on them, and give them appropriate feedback once they have answered.

• I need to provide more opportunities for my students to create their own higher-level questions.

Thinking While Studying

Effective Learners need to be able to apply metacognitive strategies both within and outside of the classroom.

Study Strategies I Will Explicitly Teach

The Resources I found to be most useful from the text and plan to implement immediately include:

•The study Environment Road Map - Many of my students are unaware of how to study. They think that simply staring at their notes or textbook is enough. By using the Study Environment Road Map, they will be able to be cognizant of the best study environment for them.

• My Weekly Schedule - The most common thing I hear from students is that they would have studied, but they were too busy. By using the weekly schedule chart, students can better manage their time and prioritize activities.

• Study Self-Evaluation – Students are able to reflect on their study habits by completing this form. They can evaluate whether or not they need to try a new study strategy, as well as set goals for the following week.

My Personal Experience

Before reading Encouraging

Metacognition…

I thought students came to my class already knowing strategies to be successful learners.

If students didn’t learn the material, they just weren’t paying enough attention.

My responsibility was to just teach Spanish lessons.

After reading Encouraging Metacognition…

I realize I need to teach specific metacognitive strategies, model them for the students, and use them on a daily basis.

Often students don’t know how they learn best, are unaware of study strategies, and don’t yet possess the skills to plan, monitor, evaluate, and reflect their learning.

My task is to acknowledge, cultivate, and enhance the metacognitive capabilities of ALL learners.

Summary and Reflection of Encouraging Metacognition

• It should never be assumed that students possess the metacognitive strategies needed to be successful independent learners within and outside of the school setting.

• Teachers must explicitly teach, model, and scaffold metacognitive strategies on a regular basis. This can be done easily by modeling examples with actual content material.

• Teachers need to be aware of the type of questions they ask, and whom they are asking. Equitable learning needs to take place. The questions should spark student interest and lead to higher-level thinking.

• Time management, organization skills, note-taking skills, and study strategies also need to be taught and modeled by the teacher in all content areas.

Works CitedKolencik, Patricia Liotta, and Shelia A. Hillwig. Encouraging Metacognition. 12. New York: Peter Lang Publishing Inc., 2011. Print.