Metacognition

Duration: 2 1/2 Weeks

Week 1 (third part of Week 1 assignment)
Assignments for Week 1 continued:
3). Work with the three questions related to the Power Point presentation "Cognitive Activity: Metacognition." Metacognition Assignment #1. Answers do not need to be turned in.
4). Metacognition Assignment #2--Submit answers to the 4 questions.
5). Metacognition Assignment #3--Submit the Reading Response Report to the Instructor.

Metacognition is the cognitive awareness readers have of their own thinking processes. It's a sensitivity to what their abilities are, ability to identify the task at hand, knowledge of a plan for completing the task successfully, and the ability to self evaluate to make sure they are doing what they need to be doing and doing it correctly. The readers are aware if they are comprehending or not and they know "fix-up" strategies to help themselves if they are not comprehending. Readers use metacognitive knowledge before reading, during reading, and after reading.

Metacognition is a big topic. There are 11 assignments. During these 2 1/2 weeks you will be reading about metacognition, writing response papers and responses to questions, and responding to several other types of activities. Finally, you will be designing and developing a piece of instructional material.

The topic of metacognition is divided into four categories:
    1. Metacognition: Background - 1 assignment
    2. Metacognition: Self Knowledge - 2 assignments
    3. Metacognition: Task Knowledge - 4 assignments
    4. Metacognition: Self Monitoring - 1 assignment
In addition, a fifth category, titled "Reading Strategies," is included with the topic of "Metacognition."
    5. Reading Strategies: 3 assignments

Metacognition Assignments 1, 2, and 3 - Week 1.

Metacognition: Assignment #1: Background

Assignment #1: 0 points possible
a. Read the Power Point titled Cognitive Activity: Metacognition.
b. After completing the Power Point, see if you can answer the answers to the following 3 questions. Try to do this without referring back to the Power Point slides. You do not need to submit your answers.

Questions on Assignment #1: Answers do not need to be turned in.

1. What is "metacognition?"
2. What is a correct generalization about disabled readers and metacognitive ability?
3. What are the three metacognitive areas?

Metacognition Assignments #2, and #3: Self Knowledge

Readers with self knowledge are aware of what they know related to reading. Self knowledge is how readers perceive themselves--their knowledge, their ability (or inability) to do the task. These self perceptions may be accurate or inaccurate. In either case the self perceptions are what is "real" to the students themselves. Many times these self perceptions are based on how they think others perceive them. Self perception can result in the students feeling they will be successful or feeling they will fail. When they perceive themselves as unable to do the reading task, they may say they are "too dumb" to be able to do it. They begin to expect to fail at reading. If you work with students who have reading problems, you will find many who perceive themselves in this way. The following articles all relate to the metacognitive area of self knowledge.

Assignment #2: Metacognition - Self Knowledge - 8 points possible

Directions for Assignment #2
1. Read the article "Failure Syndrome Students. ERIC Digest."
www.ed.gov/databases/ERIC_Digests/ed419625.html
2. Respond in writing to the four items below after reading the assignment.
a. What are the characteristics of a student who has low self concept or "failure syndrome?"
b. How are these students different from students who fail because of limited ability?
c. What are some causes of "failure syndrome?"
d. How can students with "failure syndrome" be helped?

3. E-mail or turn in your responses.

Assignment #3: Metacognition - Self Knowledge

Directions for Assignment #3: - 5 points possible

1. Read the article "When Students Do Not Feel Motivated for Literacy Learning."
(http://curry.edschool.virginia.edu/go/clic/nrrc/rspon_r9.html)
2. Use the following guide as you read. The guide is set up corresponding to sections in the article. There are some sections of the article you may skip. Other sections need to be read carefully and questions are listed which you can use to guide your reading and to self evaluate your knowledge. You do not need to write the answers to the 8 questions.
3. After reading the article, write a Reading Response paper and E-mail the paper to your instructor. 5 points possible

Guide

a. Background: This serves as an introduction to the article.

This is a report of an eight-month research study of 5th and 6th grade students. During the eight months the researchers conducted 48 classroom observations (95 hours) that included 41 in-depth interviews. Three different patterns emerged from the students' interview responses:

Situation 1. Students lacked initial motivation, but ultimately gained motivation for the tasks and completed them.
Situation 2. Students lacked initial motivation, did not gain motivation, but completed the tasks.
Situation 3. Students lacked motivation, did not become motivated, and either felt unable to complete tasks or avoided them.

The questions below each subtitle of the article are to be used to guide you through the reading and to help you self evaluate your knowledge after you have finished reading. You do not need to write the answers to these 8 questions.

After you have finished write a Reading Response Report related to the article.

"The Role of Classroom Culture in Motivation for Literacy"
1. What do you feel are the main ideas of the section?

"The Role of Perception in Motivation"
2. What were the authors' thoughts related to "learned helplessness?"
3. The role of students' perception is central to their degree of motivation and achievement. In your own words write the main idea of this section.

"The Teacher and the Classroom"
4. What were some of the characteristics of the classroom teacher?
5. What were her thoughts regarding "risk taking?"

"Method" "Engaging Students as Co-Researchers" and "Data Collection and Analysis" Skip these sections if you want to.

"Findings/Discussion" - Read the parts under this heading carefully.
6. Describe how students in each of the three situations managed the tasks which they were not initially motivated to do.

"Analysis of the Three Situations" Read the sections under this subheading carefully. Pay special attention to "Students' Feelings When Lacking Motivation" and to "Children's Physical Responses and Needs," and "Summary of Analysis of Findings."
7. Describe responses to a perceived lack of control over tasks.

"Qualities of Classroom Culture That Alleviate Motivational Struggles" through the end of the article:
8. Summarize how a classroom can be structured to provide as much motivation to students as possible.

Write a Reading Response Report related to this article. E-mail or turn in a Reading Response report on the article. 5 points possible

Week 2
Assignments for Week 2:
Metacognition Assignments #4, #5, #6, #7, and #8

Metacognition Assignments 4 - 8 - Week 2

Metacognition Assignments #4, #5, #6, and #7: Task Knowledge

Task knowledge is the knowledge readers have about the reading task. Readers who have task knowledge know the purpose of the reading task. They know what the goal is and how to go about accomplishing the goal. Readers who have task knowledge have the controlling strategies necessary to control the reading task. The readers are in control. They have cognitive plans available to help them accomplish the reading task successfully.

Background for Assignment #4: Metacognition - Task Knowledge, Text Structures, Introductory Background Information
One of the areas that needs to be investigated under the category of task knowledge is the structure of the text that the reader will be reading. "Structure" refers to how the author of the material "set up" or organized the information.

Text structure of Narrative (Fiction) If the student is reading narrative (fiction), the structure is typically one that includes the following: characters, setting, events, problem and solution. This narrative text structure is usually easier than expository (nonfiction) text structure for most students because of all of the fiction that was read to them as young children and because of all the fiction students read in primary grades. Also, many elementary teachers teach their students the structure of fiction. They teach that fiction in our culture usually has a character or characters. They teach that fiction will have a setting which may indicate where and when the story took place. Fiction will have events that happen in a certain order. Finally, within those events there will be a problem or goal the main character has and there will be a solution to the problem or the goal will be attained or not. [See the Glossary under "Text Structure: Narrative (fiction)" for explanation and see the Power Point, Text Structures for samples of graphic organizers which can be used by teachers when instructing students to identify the structure of fiction.]

Text structures of Expository (Nonfiction) The structures of nonfiction text found in social studies and science textbooks are usually much more difficult for students. For one thing there are at least six different structures the author could use when writing nonfiction information found in social studies and science textbooks. The author could use any of the following text structures: cause/effect, time sequence, enumeration of steps to accomplish something, compare/contrast, problem/solution, or definitions/explanations. Within any one chapter the author could present the information in several of these organizational ways.

A second explanation for why nonfiction text structures are more difficult for students is that many teachers do not teach the structures of expository text. Some students never have instruction in identifying and using text structures to help them comprehend nonfiction.

These expository text structures should be taught. Graphic organizers (or frames) are used successfully by many teachers. These frames show graphically how the text is structured. They give students a visual image of how the text material is arranged or organized. A frame can be designed to "show" the student "cause and effect," "steps to accomplish something," or "compare and contrast" structures in concrete ways. They can be presented to the student before the reading starts to show how the information they are going to read will be presented. Graphic organizers can then be used during the reading as an organizational structure for note taking by the student. The graphic organizers can also be used after the reading is completed as a means for structuring the post reading discussion.

Read and study the Power Point presentation titled Text Structures. Also read the brief article describing graphic organizers which can be found in Metacognitive: Materials V. Graphic Organizers.

(Look at the samples of graphic organizers showing several expository text structures. These samples can be found in the Glossary under the heading Text structures: expository.)

Assignment #4: Metacognition - Task Knowledge, Text Structure Identification (Narrative and Expository)

Directions for Assignment #4--14 points possible
1. Read the following short passages.
2. For each passage, identify the text structure. (Use the narrative story grammar structure or one of the six expository text structures listed below for your answers.)
3. Use the following format when turning in your answers:
    Passage #1 = ______(name of the structure)_____
     Passage #2 = ______(name of the structure)_____
     Etc.
3. E-mail or turn in the answers.

Passages: Identify the text structure of each passage. Your choices for labeling the structure of each passage are listed below. Some of these structures may be used twice.
a. narrative (fiction) story grammar
b. problem/solution
c. time sequence (linear)
d. compare/contrast (There are two passages using this structure.)
e. steps to accomplish something
f. cause and effect

Passage #1:
In cold or mountainous regions, rocks are often subjected to the action of freezing water because of daily changes in the temperature. During the day, when the temperature is above the freezing point of water, rainwater or melted snow or ice trickles into cracks in the rocks. During the night, if the temperature falls below freezing, the trapped water changes into ice. The trapped water expands as it changes into ice. Because the expanding ice pushes against the sides of the cracks with tremendous force, the rocks are split apart. In this way, large masses of rock especially the exposed rocks on the tops of mountains, are broken into smaller pieces. (Taken from The Reading Teacher, "Teaching Text Structure to Improve Reading and Writing," November 1989, page 136)

Passage #2:
In 1867 Laura Ingalls was born in a log cabin in Pepin, Wisconsin. Three years later the Ingalls family packed their belongings into a covered wagon and traveled to Independence, Kansas where her sister Carrie was born.   In 1871 the Ingalls family moved back to Pepin.
In 1873 the Ingalls family moved to a sod dugout house near Walnut Grove, Minnesota, where Laura attended school. Swarms of grasshoppers wiped out the family crops in 1876. Also in that year, Laura's infant brother Freddy died and the family moved to Burr Oak, Iowa.
In 1879 Laura's sister Mary lost her eyesight. Later that year the family moved to the Dakota territory and helped found the town of DeSmet, South Dakota.
The family spent the winter of 1880 in a railroad surveyor's hut and then moved into a store.
In 1885 Laura married Almanzo Wilder. For several years they lived in a hut two miles north of DeSmet.
Eleven years later the Wilder family moved to Mansfield, Missouri. (Taken from Organizing Thinking: Graphic Organizers, by Howard and Sandra Black, Midwest Publications, 1990.)

Passage #3:
Many settlers on the vast American plains in the mid to late 1800's used sod, or earth, as a building material for their houses. Sod houses were usually built on a slight rise or hillside to escape flooding. First, a floor space was leveled out with spades. Next, the bricks were laid to make the walls. Then when the walls were about three feet high, wooden frames for the doors and windows were put in place. Last, the roof, made with cedar beams and sod bricks, was put on. (Taken from The Reading Teacher, "Teaching Text Structure to Improve Reading and Writing," Ambruster, Anderson, and Ostertay, November 1989, page 135.

Passage #4:
Settlers moving west traveled on rough, narrow trails that had been packed down by animals or carved through the woods by Native Americans. These paths were often too narrow for the settlers' wagons. In addition, the trails were terribly dusty in dry weather. In rainy weather, they became thick with mud.
As more and more settlers made their way west, the government decided to help them. Construction of a road west, called the National Road, was begun in Cumberland, Maryland, in 1811. Seven years later, the National Road reached Wheeling, West Virginia. By the time it was finished, the crushed-stone road stretched all the way to St. Louis Missouri. (Source unknown.)

Passage #5:
Nouns refer to people, places, things, or ideas. Common nouns are general categories and are capitalized only as the first word in a sentence. Proper nouns are names of specific people, places, or things and are always capitalized. Because names are proper nouns and we don't know every person's name, nouns are too numerous to be counted.
Pronouns serve as a substitute word for a person, place, thing, or idea which has already been mentioned in a sentence or paragraph. A pronoun is capitalized only if it is the first word in a sentence. There are fewer than fifty pronouns in the English language.
Both nouns and pronouns usually change spelling to form plural or possessive forms. (Taken from Organizing Thinking: Graphic Organizers, by Howard and Sandra Black, Midwest Publications, 1990, page 51.)

Passage #6:
Joe came home from school. Usually his dog, Fred, runs out and jumps on him. Fred barks at Joe until Joe gets a ball and throws it for Fred. Today, though, Fred didn't run out. The house was quiet. Joe was worried. He looked around the house. He looked outside in the yard. Fred was gone.
Joe's mother came in. She told him Fred had seen a cat, jumped over the fence, and run off down the street chasing the cat. She said she drove all around the neighborhood looking for Fred. She couldn't find him.
Just then Joe's father drove into the driveway. They could see Fred sitting in the front seat wagging his tail. When Joe's father opened the car door, Fred jumped out and ran up to Joe barking. He wanted to go play ball.
Joe's father had seen Fred and put him in the car. He knew Fred would be glad to get back home.

Passage #7:
Both Great Britain and Japan are densely populated island nations. Great Britain has approximately 57,412,000 people living on 94,000 square miles. It is possible to live anywhere on the island.
Japan has 126,000,000 people living on 146,000 square miles. Inland mountain ranges in Japan limit the area available for people to live on.
Both countries are located near densely populated continents. Both are well located for shipping and rely on trade to support their large populations.
Both nations have a monarch, but in each country the prime minister is the head of the government, with the real decision-making power held by an elected legislature. Great Britain developed representative government in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, while Japan has enjoyed democratic government for the last fifty years. (Adapted from a passage in Organizing Thinking: Graphic Organizers, by Howard and Sandra Black, Midwest Publications, 1990.)

Assignment #5: Metacognition - Task Knowledge, Self-Questioning
Another area in the category of Task Knowledge is questioning. The ability to self-question is a very valuable asset for the reader to have. The Power Point presentation titled "Questioning Reciprocal QAR" gives an overview. It gives a little background and then tells about two instructional techniques teachers can use to help students develop skills. One technique is called "Reciprocal Teaching." This technique helps students become more proficient in self-questioning while reading. Proficient readers already do this, but many students with reading problems do not. A second technique presented in the Power Point presentation is called QAR (Question Answer Relationship). This technique helps students learn how they can find answers to questions.

Directions for Assignment #5: QAR - 5 points possible
1. Read the Power Point presentation titled Questioning Reciprocal QAR .
2. Respond on the Forum to the following question:

Why is it important to teach the students to ask their own questions? (How does this tie into what we talked about earlier in "Task Knowledge?) This information is suggested in the first slide, but not answered directly. 5 points possible

3. Read your classmates responses to this question and respond, if appropriate, to their ideas on the Forum.

Directions for Assignment #6: Metacognition - Task Knowledge, Reciprocal Teaching - 0 points possible
1. Read the article on "Reciprocal Teaching: A Reading Strategy." (Metacognition Materials)

2. If you have any questions, post them on the Forum.

Directions for Assignment #7: Metacognition - Task Knowledge, QAR - 14 points possible
1. Read the handouts in Metacognition Materials titled QAR (Question Answer Relationship) and Better Reading Comprehension. The QAR handout is two pages long and the Better Reading Comprehension handout is three pages long.
2. Read the following two short passages and the short story. Following each passage and following the short story are some questions.
3. Don't answer the questions. Instead, write the question-answer relationship. Write if the question-answer relationship is a "Right There," a "Think and Search," or an "On My Own." Write the relationship for each question.
4. Use the following format for your answers:
    1 a (name of question answer relationship)
     1 b (name of question answer relationship)
     1 c (name of question answer relationship)
     2 a (name of question answer relationship)
     2 b (name of question answer relationship)
     2 c (name of question answer relationship)
     2 d (name of question answer relationship)
     3 a (name of question answer relationship)
     Etc.

Passages and Questions:
Passage #1: Jimmy climbed on an old wooden rocking horse. He rocked harder and harder. Suddenly he found himself sitting on the floor!

Write the question answer relationship for each of the three questions.
a. What kind of horse did Jimmy climb onto?
b. Why did Jimmy find himself sitting on the floor?
c. Was Jimmy hurt?

Passage #2: The deer ran from the woods and bounded through the meadow. At the edge of the woods, Jack raised his rifle, aimed, and squeezed the trigger. The deer crumpled in mid leap and fell to the ground.

Write the question answer relationship for each of the four questions.
a. Where did the deer come from?
b. Was the deer dead?
c. Why did the deer fall to the ground?
d. What was Jack doing near the woods?

Passage #3 (Short Story) and Questions

Excited and impatient, Sarah, aged twelve, fidgeted in her seat between her mother and father. Their furniture, piled high in back of their Model T truck, rattled as they bumped across the railroad tracks. Her brother, who was two years older than Sarah, rode in the back trying to steady the load. They were headed for a section of town called Shantytown.

"Are you going the right way, Daddy?" she asked.

"Yes, Sarah," said her father. "We'll be there soon."

The newspaper Daddy had just bought was lying on mother's lap, fluttering noisily in the breeze. Sarah glanced at the front page. Under a picture of President Herbert Hoover a thick black headline read, "Hard Times to End Soon." Another said just the opposite: "The Depression Deepens."

She glanced at Daddy. His hands were gripping the steering wheel so hard his knuckles had turned white. His voice had sounded as if the words were being squeezed out of him.

Sarah glanced up at Mama. Her eyes were red and she had a wrinkled handkerchief clutched in her hand. She was staring out of the side windshield.

Questions: Remember, don't answer the questions. Write the question answer relationship for each of the seven questions.

a. How many people were riding in the truck?
b. Approximately what year was their truck manufactured?
c. How old was Sarah?
d. During what time period (which decade) in United States history did this story take place?
e. How old was Sarah's brother?
f. Sarah's parents seemed content and happy. (True or False?)
g. How do you think the house will look?

Metacognition Assignment #8: Self Monitoring

Background to Self Monitoring:
The third area of metacognition is self monitoring. This is the ability of the students to know if they are accomplishing the task and what degree of success they are having in accomplishing the task. Readers who self monitor must self question. These readers are then able to self evaluate. They are aware of the answers to the following types of self evaluation questions.

Am I reaching my goals?
Am I doing what I am supposed to be doing?
Am I understanding what I am reading?
What is the next step?

One technique used by some teachers is to have each student plan which activities (within parameters given by the teacher) he or she will accomplish during a specific time period in the day. For example, the teacher could have each student fill out a plan for how time will be spent during the literacy block. Each student would have his or her own plan. At the end of the literacy block, each student could self evaluate his/her success in carrying out the plan.

Dr. Elena Bodrova (McREL) and Dr. Debbie Leong (Metropolitan State College of Denver) have both helped teachers implement plans such as the ones described above. Dr. Leong told me there are several benefits to having the plans. They help the students focus and organize time. She said the written plan also serves as a positive source of communication about misuse of time. If a student is not on task, the teacher can ask, "What does your plan say you should be doing?" Then the teacher can remind the student to go back to the plan. Reminding a student what he/she should be doing is more positive and more effective than telling a student to stop doing something.

Directions for Assignment #8:
1. Look at the samples of these forms in the Glossary under "Self Monitoring of Time.
2. Think about the potential benefits of the use of these types of forms which students use to plan and evaluate the tasks to accomplish during a class session.
3. There is nothing which needs to be submitted for Assignment #8.

Week 3
Week 3 assignments # 9, #10, and #11

Metacognition Assignments 9 - 11 -Week 3

Reading Strategies: Assignments #9, #10, and #11

Assignment #9: 0 points
Read the Metacognition materials titled "Interview Forms to Encourage Metacognition During Reading," "Metacognition," "The Metacognitive Process," and "A Model of Metacognition Thinking Skills." Nothing needs to be turned in related to this reading.

Assignment #10:
a. Read the Power Point presentation titled Reading Strategies. This presentation is divided into four parts.

b. At the end of each part is a slide with questions. Go through each of the questions at the end of each of the four parts of the presentation. Use the questions to self evaluate your knowledge after you read the information. If you find you cannot do this, go back and reread that section.

c. You do not need to e-mail or turn in the answers to the questions.

Assignment #11:
Many teachers teach their students these reading strategies (or some variation of these strategies.) Generally you can see a poster on the wall showing these strategies written in "kid language" and illustrated with picture icons. This assignment is to develop a small version of a poster which shows the reading strategies described in "kid language" and represents each strategy with an appropriate icon.

Directions for Assignment #11:

a. Find a picture icon to represent each of the reading strategies you read about on the slides in the Power Point presentation. (Those strategies are listed below.)

b. Develop a "poster" which shows each of the picture icons along with the reading strategies written in "kid language."

c. Send the "poster" to the instructor.

Below are the reading strategies that must be included on the "poster":
Look at the picture.
Go back to the beginning of the sentence and reread.
Skip over the word and read to the end of the sentence.
Look at the letters at the beginning of the word. Get your mouth ready to make that sound.
Break the word into parts and see if you know any of the parts.
Ask yourself, "Does the word you predicted sound right?"
Ask yourself, "Does the word you predicted make sense?"
Look at the letters at the end of the word.
Look up the word in the dictionary.
Ask a friend.

You will probably want to reword the strategies to make them more clear and to make them shorter. I have included samples of strategy "posters" made by other RDG 4250 students. See the glossary section titled Reading Strategies.

Evaluation of the Reading Strategies poster - Each of the five items below can earn up to 5 points for a total of 25 points possible for the poster.

1. All ten strategies were included.
2. The strategies were written using language appropriate for students.
3. The picture icons representing the strategies were appropriate and of high quality.
4. The poster was visually attractive.
5. The poster was mechanically correct. Spelling, punctuation, and grammar were all correct.

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