Metacognitive Journaling

Metacognitive journaling is an activity that can be done at any grade level and any knowledge level. Metacognitive thinking is simply thinking about thinking, or rather, the reasoning behind a person’s decisions, opinions, perspectives, etc. Metacognition can help students of all levels grow in their ability to understand themselves: strengths and weaknesses, inferencing, insight, and the ability to better understand others.

Some example journal prompts:

• What confused you about the reading? How did you try to understand the reading?
• Some words that were unfamiliar to me were…
• What was your favorite part of the reading? Why?
• Which character do you most identify with? Why?
• Which character do you least identify with? Why?
• A connection I made during the reading was… Because…

Some Resource Links:

Cultivating Reflection and Metacognition, from UM LSA (link to PDF)

Reading/Evidence Log Worksheets and Resources, from TCC (link to webpage)

Literature Circles

Literature circles are a fantastic way to diversify student learning while giving students more agency in how they learn. The idea is, students choose from a narrow list which book they would like to read based off their own preferences and reading levels. Students are then placed into groups of other students who chose the same novel, and they work together to accomplish assignments, understand the novel, and enter discussions with each other. Students get together in scheduled lit circle meetings in which each group member has read a designated section of the book. Students are also often given rotating jobs so that each student is prepared, engaged, and contributing to the discussion and that each group member is basing their observations in the text.

Each role should also be provided with ways to help organize their thoughts and points such as graphic organizers, guided discussion prompts, etc. so that each student can focus on one aspect of story comprehension.

Books may be related in genre and diversified in reading level in order to accommodate each learning level as well as ESL/ELL students.

Example book choices for a dystopian unit

FOR HIGH LEVEL LEARNERS

• Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
• A Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Attwood
• Internment by Samira Ahmed

FOR STRUGGLING READERS

• Faranheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
• Lord of the Flies by William Golding
• The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

FOR ESL STUDENTS

Any of the above texts can be used with ESL learners, but teachers must include assistive materials such as vocabulary guides, audio books, and/or translated versions when available. Easier texts or texts with trustworthy translated versions are recommended.

ASSISTIVE TECHNOLOGY

• Audio books
• E-books with text-to-speech or larger font

Resource links:

8th Grade Dystopian Literature Unit Overview (link to pdf)
Lit Circle Role Sheets Template (link to pdf)

Graphic Organizers

Sometimes notetaking can be messy. And when notes get messy, it gets harder to remember what was said and what was read and what it all means. Graphic organizers are a fantastic way to help students organize their thoughts and recall them later. There are several kinds of graphic organizers from plot pyramids to family trees that will help students of any grade level with understanding and recall.

Below are some resource links to several different kinds of graphic organizers focused on novel studies, literary analysis, and character analysis:

• Graphic Organizers for Non-Fiction (link to pdf)
• Graphic Organizers for Reading Comprehension (link to pdf)