Taking ownership of your learning: "Glosario" a GLAD strategy

Independence and self-knowledge are two important concepts nowadays. With this strategy we help our students to internalize these two key concepts. 
Using buzz words, we are working with Meta-cognition, but what does it really mean? To make it more understandable; we can define it as "thinking about thinking", which helps our students to take ownership of their learning process.

This activity is originally called "Cognitive Content Dictionary" and it's a part of GLAD (I personally designate it as "Glosario" because I teach Spanish and it's the more natural term I found) and contributes to :

- involve our students in Meta-cognition
- build vocabulary
- comprehend more the language

Sequence:

1. Teacher selects a word or words from unit vocabulary.
2. Students predict meaning of selected word/words.
3. Teacher provide final meaning.
4. Students write and sketch something that will help them remember the meaning.
5. Students use the word in a sentence.
6. This activity can be done with a whole class, in teams and individually.

A possible Follow-up: 

Signal word

1. One essential vocabulary word is selected each day as the signal word.
2. A synonym or short definition phrase is used each time the word is said.
3. A signal (a physical movement) is given that will help the students remember the meaning of the word.
4. Each time the class changes activities the signal word, synonym and gesture are used to signal the end of one activity and the beginning of another.

Sources:

• My own experience
• www.projectglad.com
• Metacognition: An Overview. By Jennifer A. Livingston
• Photography taken from Christina Orsi website

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