Metacognitive abilities are essential for comprehending texts in order to read to learn (Brown, 1982).

There are two aspects to metacognition. One aspect involves selfappraisal, or knowledge about cognition and conscious access to one's own cognitive operations and reflection about those of others. The other aspect of metacognition involves self-management, or regulation of cognition, which involves planning, evaluating, and regulating strategies (Brown, 1987; Jacobs & Paris, 1987; Schunk & Ertmer, 2000). Both types of metacognition are critical for reading comprehension. First and foremost, students must be able to monitor their comprehension (self-appraisal): They must know if they are understanding what they are reading, and they must be able to take actions if they are not comprehending (self-management). The self-appraisal component requires three types of knowledge: declarative, procedural, and conditional (Paris, Lipson, & Wixson, 1983; Schunk, 2001). Declarative knowledge is knowledge of whatfor example, what a journal entry or summary is. Procedural knowledge is knowledge of howfor example, the steps one takes to write a journal entry or summary. Conditional knowledge is knowledge of when and whyfor example, when and why one writes a journal entry or summary. The self-management metacognition component for planning and controlling actions is related to reading comprehension in two ways: Awareness of when and how to plan is critical for understanding characters' goal-directed behavior in narratives, and ability to evaluate one's comprehension and plan are critical for employing comprehension repair strategies. Poor comprehenders show less evidence of metacognitive awareness and strategic behaviors. Compared to good comprehenders, they exhibit less use of spontaneous study strategies, correct fewer errors during reading, detect fewer anomalous phrases, do less self-questioning, and have less of an awareness of the goals of reading (Gardner, 1987; Paris & Myers, 1981; Yuill & Oakhill, 1991).