I had the honor of presenting at this year's Texas Association for Literacy Education (TALE). The title of my session was Metacognition Matters: STAAR Redesigned. Here is a brief summary of my one hour presentation.
Our state standards have seven strands and strand two is solely dedicated to reading comprehension. The foundation to reading comprehension is metacognition. Metacognition can be defined as noticing and naming our thinking. The ability to notice and name our thinking is essential in helping us regulate our learning. Good readers continually monitor their thoughts, controlling their experience of the text and enhancing their understanding.
There are a total of nine standards in strand two, and of those five are eligible for assessment in the upcoming 3rd-5th grade STAAR Test. The five assessed comprehension TEKS are:
- 6C Make, correct, or confirm predictions.
- 6F Make inferences and use evidence to support understanding.
- 6G Evaluate details read to determine key ideas.
- 6H Synthesize information to create new understanding.
- 6E Make connections to personal experiences, ideas in other texts, and society (Tested only in paired selections).
Here are three tips for teaching comprehension in an authentic way that aligns to the rigor of the STAAR Test:
- Create a memorable experience by using concrete objects to model comprehension skills.
- Choose rich and engaging mentor texts.
- Model your thinking using STAAR question stems.
