Part 2: Building an Awareness of Thinking

Before we jump into the first stage of our framework, let's examine a little theory.  

What is thinking?

In King Midas and the Golden Touch, published by Dominie Press, the character Dionysus disappears in a bolt of lightning. As we read the passage aloud, one of our third graders whispered, "POOF!" When we called her attention to it, she responded, "I did?!"

This particular student was not aware of the "brain-talk" going on inside her head. We cannot expect her to analyze text without understanding that she has to interact with the information authors provide. 

Cognition and Metacognition

Research tells us that one of the most essential skills we can teach our English language learners is how to engage in metacognition. According to researcher, author, and professor Neil J. Anderson, "Understanding and controlling cognitive processes may be one of the most essential skills that classroom teachers can help second language learners develop." 

In order to understand and control cognitive processes, students need to first have an awareness that they are, in fact, thinking. Metacognitive processes paired with cognitive ones make this happen. 

By combining cognitive and metacognitive strategies that honor what language learners already know how to do, we can engage them immediately in grade-level reading activities. By doing so, we may prevent their literacy development from lagging behind that of their peers.

Cognition is defined as the mental act or process by which knowledge is acquired. Readers can achieve cognition by utilizing comprehension strategies, such as making connections, questioning, visualizing, predicting, inferring, summarizing, determining importance, synthesizing and critiquing.

Metacognition is defined as the knowledge and regulation of cognition. Readers using metacognition choose which strategies to use and when to use them depending on what they are reading and for what purpose. Effective readers use the right strategies at the right time; moreover, they utilize them flexibly between reading events in order to boost cognition.

Fountas & Pinnell tell us that "Each reader builds a system for processing text, a network of strategic activities for reading increasingly challenging texts. This 'in the head' system is unique for each student." 

In other words, it's personal.

Readers with different levels of language acquisition, diverse background knowledge, and a range of literacy experiences approach and process texts differently. For this reason, a one size fits all approach -teaching a specific strategy and practicing that one strategy- may not be the most effective model.  

Where, then, do we start?

Listening to Brain-Talk

Teaching language learners to use metacognitive strategies, or to "think about their thinking", is a manageable way to start them on the path to becoming more active readers and thinkers. Whether he was meaning to or not, Terry Pratchett, the author of A Hat Full of Sky from the Discworld fantasy series, defined metacognition beautifully as Second and Third Thoughts: 

The third grader reading King Midas was not, as Terry might say, listening to her Second Thoughts. Her Third Thoughts, however, were active without her knowledge. 

In many cases, we need to activate a schema for thinking, or an awareness of thinking. We activate schema across the content areas in order to prepare students for learning experiences.  We do this by drawing on prior knowledge and providing necessary information to bridge familiar and unfamiliar knowledge. To encourage metacognition, we need to view thinking as a sort of content area as well. It also needs to be activated and developed. 

Our students come to us with valuable life experiences and understandings.  Their brains are full of information. Helping students understand what is there is the first step in becoming an efficient reader. When we show students how to tune in to their Second and Third Thoughts, we can get a glimpse of the processes and understandings that each student brings to the table. Then we can provide the appropriate and unique scaffolds that will build language and literacy.  

Building a foundational understanding of metacognition is crucial for comprehension and establishing or strengthening the relationship between the text, the author, and the reader. 

In our next post, Modeling: Thinking Aloud, we will explore how teachers can effectively scaffold this work.