A classroom investigation of the growth of metacognitive awareness in kindergarten children through the writing process

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What is metacognition and how does it fit into in early literacy?

The study highlighted research that indicates that learners who are skilled in metacognitive awareness are more strategic and perform better than those who are not. It regards learners with ‘metacognitive awareness’ as being aware of their thinking and the strategies they are using.
The basic metacognitive strategies are:

connecting new information to former knowledge;
deliberately selecting appropriate thinking strategies from a repertoire; and
planning, monitoring, and evaluating thinking processes.

The study worked on the hypothesis that there are two levels to children’s metacognition. The first level is the acquisition of metacognitive knowledge, the second level is the ability to produce it, which, according to the research, happens over time.

‘Thinking aloud’ is a metacognitive activity, and it has been suggested that practice in thinking aloud can lead students to a better understanding of their thought processes while writing. Research also suggests that most early learners have a general - though vague - understanding that writing, reading, and language are related but need to gain understanding of the connections. As they learn to write, children develop strategies to serve as temporary scaffolds, which then drop away as they put together further pieces of the writing/language puzzle. Among the recommended methods for learning about children’s developing writing is asking them to write, then to read their writing. Another is to have the children talk about their thinking as they write. It has also been suggested that one way to encourage the development of metacognition in children is by asking them a series of predictable questions. By answering these they will be effectively ‘thinking aloud’.

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Research Home Themes \| Find digests \| About the digests resources glossary researchers contact TRIPS Introduction What is metacognition and how does it fit into in early literacy? What the study found What was the aim and the design of this study? What are the implications of the study? Where can I find out more? Send us your feedback Collated digests To view/remove/add notes and save your collated digests click here Get Word Reader A classroom investigation of the growth of metacognitive awareness in kindergarten children through the writing process This digest found in Early years English Thinking skills Send to a friend Word doc 50KB Printer friendly Collate for later What is metacognition and how does it fit into in early literacy? The study highlighted research that indicates that learners who are skilled in metacognitive awareness are more strategic and perform better than those who are not. It regards learners with ‘metacognitive awareness’ as being aware of their thinking and the strategies they are using. The basic metacognitive strategies are: connecting new information to former knowledge; deliberately selecting appropriate thinking strategies from a repertoire; and planning, monitoring, and evaluating thinking processes. The study worked on the hypothesis that there are two levels to children’s metacognition. The first level is the acquisition of metacognitive knowledge, the second level is the ability to produce it, which, according to the research, happens over time. ‘Thinking aloud’ is a metacognitive activity, and it has been suggested that practice in thinking aloud can lead students to a better understanding of their thought processes while writing. Research also suggests that most early learners have a general - though vague - understanding that writing, reading, and language are related but need to gain understanding of the connections. As they learn to write, children develop strategies to serve as temporary scaffolds, which then drop away as they put together further pieces of the writing/language puzzle. Among the recommended methods for learning about children’s developing writing is asking them to write, then to read their writing. Another is to have the children talk about their thinking as they write. It has also been suggested that one way to encourage the development of metacognition in children is by asking them a series of predictable questions. By answering these they will be effectively ‘thinking aloud’.