Metacognitive/Reflective Questioning
What is Metacognitive/Reflective Questioning?
Metacognition, the hallmark of skilled thinking, is necessary in all aspects of life and learning. It involves the processing of mental operations and learning habits employed during a lesson. The key element is that students are focusing on both the thinking and their own “thinking about their thinking.”
Why is it Important?
The information can be very useful for the teacher to plan the next lesson as well as help students take an active role in their learning.
What Does it Look Like in the Classroom?
The following questions and response frame are just a few examples of how to help students with metacognition. Teacher modeling is also helpful to teach these habits of mind.
- In a reading lesson, a teacher may ask students the following questions with a response frame for students: 1. “What do you notice about your reading when you are understanding what you read?” When I understand what I read I notice that _________________. 2. “What is it that causes you difficulties when you read?” I have a difficult time when______________________.
- In a mathematics problem-solving activity, encourage students to talk about the strategies they are using. Listing the strategies gives students a reference for future use and the list can be expanded as they discover new strategies. Students could also refer to the list as they label the strategies they are using.
- In Ceres, many teachers use exit slips for a brief math or language arts quiz based on the lesson objective. In the article, “Reflective Assessment,” by Bond, Evans, and Ellis, 2011, the authors show additional ways to use an exit slip to promote metacognition. Students respond with “I learned” statements about the skills and knowledge they have gained in a lesson. On a divided paper with the heading “Clear” and “Unclear,” students can report to the teacher what they understand along with any misunderstandings they still may have.