Metacognitive strategies, defined and described in this lesson, are a key component of the Dino Island Intervention Program. Throughout the intervention, you will be will be teaching, demonstrating, and facilitating the use of various metacognitive strategies. Children will then become increasingly capable of using these new skills independently in sessions and, eventually, applying them into their everyday lives outside of sessions. For this to happen, interventionists will need to be very familiar with what metacognition is, the process for identifying the best metacognitive strategy for a given situation, and how to evaluate their use and adapt as needed. Please read through this lesson carefully and refer back to this content as often as needed throughout the intervention.

What is Metacognition and how is it used in Dino Island?

Metacognition is “thinking about thinking.” It helps us to reflect on whether or not a goal has been met and why or why not. So, in other words, metacognition is the awareness and understanding of your own strengths and weaknesses.

In younger children, these abilities are just developing, so the goal is to help children identify some specific strategies to improve their focus and learning. See the video below for a brief overview of what metacognition is and how it’s used to learn and grow…