Recommendations
for Implementing Cognitive and Metacognitive Strategies
For teachers to implement the previous strategies, some recommendations need to be made for the highest success in the classroom using cognitive and metacognitive strategies. Literacy instruction requires connections to real books and authentic practice opportunities (Roe, 1992). If the strategies are not applied to material that the children can relate to or is too difficult to begin with, it is meaningless. Ultimately, it must be the reader who creates meaning, not the text or the teacher (Flood, & Lapp, 1990). Strategies can help with the creation of meaning, if properly fostered. Students need to work together because they learn that people often have different views of what they are learning and that there are many ways that lead to success (Rhoder, 2002). The teacher needs to balance the use of explanation, instruction and modeling with guided practice, so that there is a gradual transfer of responsibility to the learner to work strategically and independently with text (Palinscar, & Brown, 1986). Training students how to generate questions is an important strategic plan for helping students think and communicate (Ciardiello, 1998).
In conclusion, it is the teacher who creates the opportunities for the students to function strategically, to orchestrate activities so that experiences support learning ( Ruddell, & Shearer, 2002), and that the learners are exposed to a learning environment that is conducive to facilitating the proper learning that will transfer over in their lives to future endeavors.