Getting Started with Metacognition

Y'all my office smells like something died. Seriously!

It started about two weeks ago.  I walked in and got hit with a pretty putrid smell. So, naturally, I started to search.  I looked everywhere and honestly, there are not that many places to look.  My space consists of a work table, a desk, 2 bookshelves, and a small table for my printer.  Nothing.

I finally had to come to the conclusion that something has died in the wall. Ugh! Gross!

Needless to say, I couldn't be in here all week.  It's just nasty. So, yet again, I have fallen behind in posting, reading, and responding to emails. So sorry.

The good news is that the smell is improving thanks to a variety of air fresheners and those gel bead things that supposedly absorb bad odors.  So, I'm back for a few minutes or at least until I can't take the smell anymore.

So, what have my 4th graders been working on lately? Well, becoming active readers, of course.

We started with that big word: METACOGNITION or the process of thinking about your thinking. 

This video does a great job explaining metacognition and the importance of teaching it to our students.

 

Although the idea of metacognition is introduced in previous grades, many of my 4th graders come to me not really understanding what it means to listen to their inner voice.  They seem lost when I ask them, "What do you think about your book?" I get the tilted head, scrunched up nose, shrugging shoulders look or (even worse) I get a completly blank stare.

We go very slow and I do a lot of modeling of metacognition through reading aloud both picture and chapters books.

How to Get Started:

I believe it is important to start with introducing all the strategies at once.  As a reader, we don't use only one strategy per day.  We don't pick up a book and tell ourselves "Today, I will only ask questions." As teachers, we must be careful not to send that message. The strategies we use while reading a text depend on our background knowledge of the topic, the readability of the text, and our interest while reading. 

To introduce all the strategies, I use Constructing Meaning by Nancy N. Boyles.  What I love about this book (aside from all the great resources in the back) is her use of kid-friendly language to introduce the key comprehension strategies. Students can infer and synthesize well before you ever introduce those skills by using her kid friendly language of noticing and figuring out. 

In the book, she walks you through the entire introductory lesson and explains WHY each reading strategy is so important to a reader.  By the end of the first lesson, you have introduced all 6 strategies in very approachable easy to use terms: connecting, wondering, guessing, noticing, picturing, figuring out.

The book also comes with a disc to print your own posters for each strategy. There is an icon to go with each strategy as a reminder. 

After introducing these six kid friendly strategies, I display my metacognition sentences stems poster. All of the posters below are inspired by Tanny McGregor and her wonderful book Comprehension Connections.

2012-2013 Poster

This is the poster I am currently using in my classroom.  I felt it was important to include a sentences stem for my non-fiction readers that are always learning new facts.  So, I added "I just learned..."

Because I was trying to downsize my poster (due to lack of wall space) I had to pick and choose the strategies I put on here this year.  I choose the ones that my 4th graders seem to use the most or at least the ones I would like them to use the most. 

Here is my poster from last year.  I included it again in this post, so that you can compare the two versions.  It is also one of the most pinned things from my blog which is a huge compliment.  Thanks everyone!

I also updated my Real Reading poster this year.  Again, this is straight from Comprehension Connections.  I love the visual is gives my students.

Finally, the students have been given the tools or at least the language to begin.

We start reading some books and practice the art of stopping and listening to our inner voice.  I don't use post-its or write down anything yet.  That's right...at first, there is not an anchor chart in sight.  We just read and talk, read and talk, AND read and talk.  For some of my favorite books to model  metacognition, click here.  These books encourage the use of ALL strategies simultaneously.

After a day or two students begin taking 1-2 post-its with them when they go into Read to Self.  I have learned not to give too many post-its at once as it can be very overwhelming for students in the beginning...even 4th graders.  My lower readers begin to panic and can't seem to get anything down if I give them too much at once.  One post-it at a time seems doable and we just work up from there. You can always give out more when they ask.

Once we have gotten a good overview of the strategies this way, we begin diving into each strategy on a deeper level and using the teacher words of inferring and synthesizing. First up...questioning!  It's always a class favorite. 

Happy reading and thinking!

New Favorite: Tub-Boo-Boo

 I just had to pop in tonight to share my new favorite picture book: tub-boo-boo. Have you heard of it?!

It is H-I-L-A-R-I-O-U-S!

Our new reading coach recommended it to introduce mentor texts for ideas.  BUT it could be used 101 different ways to teach writing.  From word choice to sentence fluency to voice...oh my gosh... the voice.. it is a really high quality, well written book that kids would enjoy mimicking. I think I could honestly teach everything I need to teach in writing with THIS book.

The story is told from the sister's perspective as if she is a reporter giving you the full TRUE story.  Basically, her younger brother has to take a bubble bath because he is filthy. Just before getting out of the bath, he gets his toe stuck in the faucet.  It's a tub-boo-boo! Mom, being the mother, is positive she can help, but gets stuck too. Dad comes into save the day, but...uh-oh...you guessed it.  Dad gets stuck too.  So, Dad pulls out his cell phone and calls the police, who come and (of course) also get stuck.  I'm sure you get the idea.  Luckily the sister (aka the reporter) comes in and saves the day just before all the bubbles disappear and the situation gets too embarrassing. 

Again, it is H-I-L-A-R-I-O-U-S!

You and your kids will laugh out loud while you read it.  The book is pure fun! After reading it aloud, we used it as a jumping off point for a personal narrative on an embarrassing moment.  But honestly, you could use this for so much in terms of teaching ideas or writing craft.

I'm glad I read it in September, so that I can continue to come back to it as a mentor text over and over again throughout the year.

There is even a lesson for it on WritingFix.com.  Bonus!

It is truly a great book. Now, I had to give my copy back to her, but I plan on ordering it from Amazon tonight.  I hope you grab a copy too!

If you have 8 minutes, here's the story being read aloud by Miss Nona, the Reading Lady. Enjoy!

Teaching, Technology, and Head Spinning Statistics

Technology has certainly changed our world. The technology I have seen in my own lifetime is pretty phenomenal.

In kindergarten, we had computers.  The screen were black.  The font was green.

In elementary, we had better computers.  We had Windows, you just had to load that from the DOS screen. Do you remember that? I spent many hours loading my various print shop programs and The Oregon Trail from DOS.  All printing was (naturally) black and white.

By middle school, things were getting fancier. Windows loaded all my itself.

High school was the age of AOL instant messenger and ICQ. Also...pagers were awesome and made you look cool. Napster, anyone?

Suddenly, cell phones started to take over.  Remember, your Nokia? Pagers were out.

The iPod came out while I was in college.  It was a heavy bulky piece of equipment compared to today's standards. Then, everyone had a Razr.  Hooray for a colored screens and a camera! Facebook began and you were only eligible if you had a college email address. Those were the days.

Since college, I've seen smart phones and everything associated with smart phones (email, apps, texts, etc) take over. The Kindle and other eReaders have changed the way people by books.  Forget about buying cds; stores don't sell them. There have been multiple generations of iPhones, iPads, and iPods. Twitter. Computers are touch screen and everything is wireless.  It is a different world.

So, what does that mean for our students?  With an ever changing world and increasing amounts of technology, how do we teach students who will live in a world that we cannot currently imagine?!?

Check out this video for some interesting and surprising statistics.

I certainly don't have the answers, but it is something to ponder.  My school isn't a technology hub or anything, okay...truthfully...it's not even close.  I don't have a lot of technology to work with, but I sure need use what is available.   I think the first step is getting technology in the hands of my students as often as possible. My new goal for the school year is to never miss my computer lab time.  That's step one.  I will build from there.

Anyone else out there limited with technology at school?  How do you incorporate technology into your day? How are you preparing your students for a world surrounded by technology? I'd love your thoughts on the video.  What stood out to you?  What surprised you?  Comment below. :)

Speaking of technology - Stay tuned for a great app recommendation from my fabulous guest blogger tomorrow: Corrina Allen from Mrs. Allen's 5th Grade Files.  She is my first guest blogger (super excited!) and you won't want to miss her post.

Science Safety Videos

As I was catching up on all my favorite blogs, I noticed that I completely missed science week.  Dang!  So, I thought I would quickly share 2 videos that I showed my students this year regarding safety. The kids watched these videos before discussing and signing their safety contracts.
Thank you Sandy (our amazing science facilitator) for finding these great videos!

Gotta Keep Reading Video

Have y'all seen this? Our amazing librarian shared it with us today. I love it!

Where It All Goes Down Wednesday

The fun at Blog Hoppin' continues with a "Where It All Goes Down" linky party.

I have already made several posts about my classroom, so I thought I would use this opportunity to acquaint myself with Animoto and make a video.  It did take awhile for my pics to load, but I have to say that after that everything was so dang easy.  If you have never used, go sign yourself up.  I think it might be one of my newest addictions.

Classroom Video Tour