Metacognition

=__ Metacognition __= = =  The biggest thing McGregor wants you to take from this chapter is that you need rich discussion to enhance the teaching of this subject. By modeling your thinking aloud, the students will feel more secure in verbalizing their ideas, thus allowing discussion on comprehension to begin.

Concrete Experience: The Reading Salad
Materials needed: One large bowl, two small bowls (one with small green squares in it, the other with small red squares in it), and a book

(Shortened version) Read aloud to the kids from the book you picked and ask them if they think you are a good reader. (most/all will say yes!) Then explain that just because you read well, doesn't mean you are a good reader - good readers need to think while they read!

The reading salad is made by reading small sections of the texts (and putting a small green square in the large bowl), then verbalizing your thoughts about that part (and putting a red square in the large bowl). Point to the book as you read, put the green square in, then point to your head while thinking aloud, add a red square. This goes on until you have a good mix of both colors that the kids can see and understand how the reading and thinking work together to understand what they are thinking about the story.

Sensory Exercise
Use this Venn Diagram to discuss what metacognition is.



Pair students up to work together to explore metacognition. Using poster board designed into a cartoon thought bubble, have one student read aloud from a book and the other put their face into a cutout in the bubble (a reader and a thinker). The reader starts by reading a sentence from the book, then the thinker shares their thoughts on the text that was read. This goes on for a few minutes and then they switch.



Find paint cards to help you monitor if students are understanding their reading.

These can be used to represent the student's understanding of the text. Light color = foggy, medium color = in between, dark color = clear understanding. Students can point to the corresponding color as they comprehend the text.

Thinking Stems
Use these starters to help students organize their thoughts while reading and discussing.

I'm thinking. . . I'm noticing. . . I'm wondering. . . I'm seeing. . . I'm feeling. ..

This song (which is also a book) is a good one to get kids thinking and talking about it media type="custom" key="3621861"