Metacognition refers to a student's ability to think about their thoughts, understand their own knowledge, and be aware of their own processes when learning. Metacognitive skills help us with awareness of our learning, which in turn helps us investigate the areas we know we need help to learn. These skills include self-monitoring and self-evaluative skills.

The document below includes sentence starters that foster metacognition as a student assesses their own understanding of topics and learning as they go. To use this strategy with a student, simply set aside checkpoints during or after a lesson and ask the student to complete one or more of these sentences. Answer their questions or encourage them to seek more information based on what they say. You may also just ask them to reflect after learning on how the experience was for them.

This strategy can be individualized as needed (in frequency, length, etc.), but aim to check-in at least once for each new concept or overall unit and engage with the student for 5-10 minutes.