Metacognition Activity

Now you’ve listened to the podcast you may find it useful to look at the following questions that your son or daughter could ask themselves when completing a homework task. The example we’ve used below includes questions they could ask when planning and completing an essay task.

Planning and Knowledge of Task

Questions that your son or daughter could ask before they start planning their answer:

What are the topics I need to know before I start to answer the question?
Do I remember enough about the topics or do I need to go over them again?
What does ‘critically evaluate’ mean?

Planning and Knowledge of Strategies

Questions that your son or daughter could ask before they start answering the question:

Have I done this type of essay question before and how did I do on it?
Do I need to make a plan before I start?
What sort of specialist terminology can I use in my answer?
Where might find information if I get stuck?
How much time do I have to complete the question?

Planning and Knowledge of Self

Areas that your son or daughter may consider before they start answering the question:

‘I always run out of time, I need to make sure I stick to the time I’ve set to do the question’
‘My phone’s a distraction – I’ll turn it off for the time I’m doing the question’
‘I usually struggle giving examples in this type of question – I need to make sure I do this in my answer’

Monitoring

Questions your son or daughter may ask when they’re writing their answer:

Am I sticking to the question?
Am I sticking to the timings I set myself?
Have I used enough examples?
Have I critically evaluated?
Have I used specialist terminology?

Monitoring

Questions your son or daughter may ask when they’ve completed their answer:

How did I do against the mark scheme?
Have I used all the key information needed?
Are there any key points I missed?
Have I stuck to my plan?
Have I fully developed my point with examples and specialist terminology?
Did I use all the time I had or did I run out of time?

Simple Task for Learners

Below is a simple form for your son or daughter to complete after they’ve completed homework or carried out revision at home. Once submitted it will be sent to you as an emailed PDF.