How to Teach Learning Strategies to Children

Source : Susan Ruckdeschel , ehow.com
  

Learning strategies are actions that learners take to complete learning tasks successfully. They're particularly useful when you are teaching a new skill or introducing new information that students will need to remember and comprehend. Learning strategies typically involve methods that help to recall information, or specific techniques for remembering facts and understanding new concepts. Strategies must always involve explicit teaching by teachers, and lots of practice for students.

Instructions

1. Teach learning strategies explicitly. Let the students know you are teaching them a strategy, and tell them how it will be useful. For example, if you're teaching them a reading comprehension strategy such as paraphrasing, tell them that it is a strategy that will help them understand and remember information better when they read.
2.  Model or demonstrate the strategy being taught. As you are modeling the strategy, be very explicit as to its name and how it helps their learning. For example, if you are teaching early addition using a tapping strategy such as the "tap and tally" method, tell the students the name of the strategy as you demonstrate it. Remind them later to use that strategy, calling it by name. 
3. Teach the strategy enthusiastically. When students see your enthusiasm, they'll be more likely to buy into the idea of using it. They'll also understand its usefulness academically, and thereby more likely to use the strategy independently.  
4. Build one strategy off of another through paced instruction and increased levels of difficulty. Increase the difficulty only as students demonstrate they can handle more of a challenge. For example, if you're teaching students phonemic awareness, continue to review letter-sound relationships until they can successfully identify all letters of the alphabet before moving into phonics activities, where they put letters and sounds together to form words. 
5. Allow students plenty of practice time for each strategy, using a strategy at least three times for practice before moving on to the next one. 
6. Write down your reflective thoughts after you teach each strategy. Think about how the strategy worked and how quickly the students were able to grasp it. If they didn't grasp it, or struggled with the strategy, try to determine why and make changes for the next time.