Planning the attack on content area reading, the effect of four metacognitive strategies on weak adolescent readers' confidence

Abstract

This study sought information on the effectiveness of teaching four metacognitive strategies to a small group of struggling adolescent students. The investigation examined the transfer of strategies to content area classes and the changes in student confidence in reading class-related texts. The strategies chosen were (1) text preview, labelled 'Survey' by Aukerman (1972), (2) summarizing, using Cunningham's 'GIST' (1982), (3) ' note taking' for definitions and annotations (Vacca & Vacca, 1996), and (4) a guided study technique, Robinson's 'SQ3R' (1970). Reading strategies chosen were student-initiated and student-directed and suited to independent use with content area texts. The study tracked six grade seven students through six weeks of small group sessions where strategies were learned and practiced and then determined student changes regarding two perspectives: the transfer of strategies to content areas of Social Studies and Science and the changes in student confidence in reading content area texts. The following questions were addressed: (1) what transfer occurred from the reading strategy lessons to content area classrooms, (2) what changes were noted in reader confidence in reading content area texts and (3) what were the self-perceptions on the transfer of strategies to content area reading tasks? (Abstract shortened by UMI.)