Model "think-alouds." When demonstrating how to solve a problem or reading a text, announce your thought processes aloud. This will show your students how they should think about the problem. For instance, if demonstrating how to use context clues to define difficult vocabulary words, you might say, "Hmmm. I don't know what 'ravenous' means. Well, the poem says, 'The bear was hungry, the bear was ravenous,' and later the bear says he's going to eat Isabel. He clearly isn't a nice bear, and he's really hungry. Maybe 'ravenous' means something like 'fierce' or 'cruel,' or maybe it's just another word for 'hungry.'" Later, when students are trying to use context clues to define words, they may remember how you modeled the strategy and follow a similar thought process.
Provide step-by-step instruction for problems, writing assignments and other assignments. This will allow students to understand exactly where they are having trouble. A student who does not have step-by-step instruction may find himself simply thinking, "I don't get it." A student with step-by-step instruction can employ metacognitive thinking: "OK, I know that I need to use the quadratic equation, but now I'm stuck because I don't remember what number each letter represents. I'd better reread that section of the textbook."
Provide your students with reading strategies. Teach them to look for text features, such as chapter titles, subheads or bold vocabulary words. Tell them to ask themselves questions such as, "Based on the subhead, what's the main idea of this section going to be? What information will be important?"
Set a purpose for reading. This may be the class objective ("Today, we're comparing Athens and Sparta. Read to find three similarities and five differences between Athens and Sparta"), or it may relate to any homework questions at the end of the chapter ("When you read this chapter of 'The Hobbit,' the answers to the questions will summarize the main events for you. Read to find the answers of these questions and you'll have a summary of chapter eight.") When the students have a purpose for reading, they can ask themselves whether they are accomplishing that purpose, which encourages metacognition.
Teach older students note-taking strategies such as SQ3R or the Cornell method to use during lecture or reading. This will allow the students to make connections and organize their notes in a way that makes sense to them. Provide structured models when you introduce these methods. For instance, rather than saying, "Use the Cornell method to take notes about the scientific method," show the students what the left-hand column of their notes should look like and have them fill in the right-hand column on their own.
Encourage students to write questions based on their studies. Have them actively look for areas they find puzzling and write down questions. Then, have them reread the text, re-examine the problem or review their notes and make an educated guess at the answer of the question. This will encourage students to actively monitor their comprehension instead of deciding that they "just don't get it."
Ask students to answer questions about their learning at the end of each lesson. Possible questions include "What did you learn about yourself as a reader/writer/scientist/mathematician today?" and "What skills did you learn that you think you can use again?" or simply "What did you learn today?"