Comprehension Strategies: Metacognition

“As soon as I open it, I occupy the book, I stomp around in it. I underline passages, scribble in the margins, leave my mark – in effect I write my own book, a counter version. I’ve come to understand that there are two dramas in reading: the drama of the book’s internal relations and the drama of its relation to me” 

Anatole Broyard

 
Each year I know that I am going to take my students through explicit instruction in all of the reading comprehension strategies. Sometimes, we refer to these as metacognitive strategies, because they are really the thinking strategies readers use as they try to understand the text.

So before I teach students the strategies I start by teaching them to pay attention to that "inner voice" and start to think about their thinking (metacognition). I teach them that reading is thinking. Many students will buy into the fact that yes, they need to interpret the characters on the page and think the sounds those symbols make to create words. But many children believe the thinking stops there, and unfortunately some teachers too. This first unit, teaches students to make meaning from their reading.

I start by letting the students see my thinking. I explain that when the book is up I am reading and when the book is down I am letting them hear what is going on inside my head, I refer to this as my "inner voice" and sometimes make my hand look like a little mouth and share my thinking using a squeaky voice.

So I begin by using a strategy from Comprehension Connections, called the Reading Salad.

I have two helpers, one holds container full of green paper which represents my "thinking" and another student holds a container full of red paper, my "reading".  As I read and think aloud they drop the corresponding color into a large salad bowl, labeled "real reading."

Children see that real reading has a lot more thinking in it than actual reading. I model thinking about everything from unfamiliar vocabulary, to character development, to predictions, and questions. 

After modeling "real reading" students share out some of the things they noticed about my thinking. In our reader's notebook students create a picture of the reading salad using ripped construction paper and list some of the thinking they could do when they read. 

Then I teach my students that some of the thinking that good readers do, is just stopping periodically during their reading and checking to make sure they understand what they have read. I teach them the Check For Understanding song. (This idea comes from the "two sisters" - CAFE and Daily 5.) 

Check For Understanding Song (sung to the tune of Hokey Pokey)

You have a great new book 

and you’ve started to read

You know a lot of words but

 here’s something else you need.

You must check for understanding

and ask “Who?” and also “What?” 

that’s what reading’s all about!

Of course the next step is modeling how a reader "checks for understanding."  I distribute check for understanding bookmarks to each of the student. Then, I read a few pages of a book and stop to refer to my check mark. I ask myself the questions on the bookmark to make sure I know what I am reading. If I can't answer the question, I go back and reread to find the answer. I don't have a picture of mine available but here are some from Christina Bainbridge. Mine are available on my TPT store for free, along with other documents to go with the Metacognition Unit.

These are from Christina Bainbridge and for sale at Teaching Oasis! 

Finally, I spend the rest of the week modeling thinking while reading. Each time releasing the responsibility more and more to the students. Each day we notice what we do as good readers and add it to an anchor chart titled "Reading is Thinking" with subheadings of Before, During, and After. Below is a sample of some of the things that might make it on your anchor chart.

BEFORE	DURING	AFTER
Predict what may happen	Connect to Background Knowledge (Schema)	Make Connections
Make connections to what you know about the topic	Connect sentences together for meaning	Ask yourself questions you still have
Ask yourself questions that you think will be answered as you read	Notice something about the author's language or style	Reflect on what you have read
Set goals/purpose for reading	Visualize	Summarize major points
Note organization of text	Ask yourself questions	Look for additional information
Create a mental overview	Evaluate your predictions

 

For the rest of the unit, students put into practice what we have been doing as a class. They use the check marks during independent and buddy reading, complete graphic organizers where they track their thinking, and share the process during whole group and guided reading groups.

"When readers interact with the texts they read, reading becomes important. Reading shapes and even changes thinking. Getting readers to think when they read, to develop an awareness of their thinking, and to use strategies that help them comprehend are the primary goals of comprehension instruction." - Stephanie Harvey and Anne Goudvis from Strategies that Work