A higher level of critical thinking occurs when one is aware of one's thought processes. In the Metacognitive Journal, students analyze their own thought processes following a reading or other activity. The Metacognitive Journal encourages students to reflect on their reading processes, their final drafts, or their presentations.
Key
questions: What enabled you to gain the most from this experience? What would
you do differently if you had more time?
On
the left side of the paper, the student records--What I Learned. On the right
side of the paper--How I Learned It.
The dialectical journal is a type of double-entry note-taking which students use while reading literature. In the two columns students write notes that dialogue with one another, thereby developing critical reading and reflective questioning.
A Learning Log is a written response to literature but may be used to respond to other texts. The left column entries may be verbatim text, research notes, lecture notes, vocabulary, or questions. The right column entries are student responses to, interpretations of, or analyses of the left column entries.
The Double Entry Journal allows students to record their responses to text as they read. In the left-hand page or column, the student copies or summarizes text which is intriguing, puzzling, or moving, or which connects to a previous entry or situation. In the right-hand page or column, the student reacts to the quotation or summary. The entry may include a comment, a question, a connection made, an analysis. Entries are made whenever a natural pause in the reading occurs, so that the flow is not interrupted constantly.
At the end of the week's activities or at the end of a unit of instruction, students reflect on the cumulative activities. This activity encourages students to review past experiences and plan for future applications. The act of writing reinforces what was learned.
Divide
paper into three sections. Record "What I Did," "What I
Learned," and "How I Can Use It."
In a Reflective Journal entry the student identifies the activity, then reflects on the material learned.
Here the student examines events and speculates about the possible long-term effects resulting from such events. This type of journaling encourages the student to anticipate the effects of the event(s) experienced.
The
student divides the paper in half. On the left side, the student records
"What Happened"--on the right, "What Could Happen Because of
This."