Discourse in ELA

1. Discourse in ELA Shannon Rooney University of Southern California EDUC 513 A June 12, 2012 Dr. Kamala Dexter

2. Discussion Shapes Thinking According to Miller (2003), “‘Talking to learn’ through collaborative exploration in discussion served as the key to developing students understanding and thinking” (p. 291). Class discussions allow students to form their own opinions and interpretations of readings in the classroom. If we think back to the earlier readings by Appleman (2009), discussion prompt students to read through different critical lenses; discussions prompt students to think about where the author is coming from,and where they themselves are coming from (Reader Response).

3. Small Groups Small group discussions allow students to, “use cognitive strategies, to explore connections between personal knowledge and the text, and to create their own understanding jointly through language” (Miller, 2003, p. 291). Small group discussions promote Piaget’s theory of Cognitive Development. Piaget believed that children are active and motivated learners who construct rather than absorb knowledge (Ormrod, 2011). Small group discussions allow students to “construct” their knowledge and understanding of a text based on their own opinions, as well as ideas that other classmates share.

4. Teacher-Mediated Text Discussion Lev Vygotsky’s theory of Cognitive Development emphasizes that learning is a social process and children can perform more challenging tasks when assisted by more advanced individuals like teachers. The Zone of Proximal Development is a range of tasks that a student can perform with the help of others; the tasks cannot quite be performed independently (Ormrod, 2011).

5. Socratic Seminars • Socratic Seminars, also known as the Socratic Method, is a student led discussion in which students demonstrate their ability to infer and articulate deeper meanings of a subject or text. Students interpret meaning and ask further questions to gain a deeper understanding. The teacher act merely as a facilitator during the discussion.

6. A Sample Socratic Seminar • Lesson Objective: The students will demonstrate their knowledge and understanding of chapters thirty-one through forty in Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. The students will demonstrate their knowledge and understanding of the chapters by holding a Socratic Seminar. The Socratic Seminar will be a student led discussion, in which they will demonstrate their ability to infer and articulate deeper meanings of the novel. Rather than identifying facts such as plot, setting, etc., learners will interpret meaning and ask questions to gain a deeper understanding of the novel.

7. A Sample Socratic Seminar Continued… • Anticipatory Set: The lesson is about developing a deeper understanding of chapters thirty-one through forty in Mark Twain’s novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. I will start the lesson with instructions for the Socratic Seminar. The Socratic Seminar is a student-led discussion, in which I act as a facilitator. I will ask the students to turn their desks so that they are facing each other when they are discussing the novel. I will ask students to respond to the questions I have given them about interpreting meaning. I will ask the students to call on other students to respond to the questions I have given them. • Perceived Objective/Rationale: “You will be able to infer and articulate a deeper understanding of chapters thirty-one through forty in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. You will engage in an intellectual discussion by responding to questions that pertain to the novel.”

8. Input: I will ask students to compose a Socratic Seminar, in which students lead the discussion of interpreting meaning within the text. I will ask students to summarize what the student said before them so that I may check for understanding and then ask the students to share their interpretation of meaning. Below are the “Interpreting Meaning” questions that the students will respond to in their discussion (depending on time, we may not get through all of the questions below).

9. Discussion Questions Chapters 30-32 • How do the duke and king behave toward each other in these chapters? How would you compare this with their behavior in earlier chapters? • Briefly describe Huck’s crisis of conscience that leads up to his decisions to write to Miss Watson. How does Twain use irony here to make satirical points? • Why does Huck decide to “go to hell”? • What is Huck’s understanding of Providence in Chapter 32? Would Miss Watson agree with it? • How does Twain use irony in the discussion between Huck and Mrs. Phelps about the steamboat accident that Huck makes up? Chapters 33-35 • What accounts for Huck’s promise that Tom will help him steal Jim? • Why do you think Huck tries to help the duke and king when he finds out that the townspeople know about them? • How does Huck respond to the duke and the king being tarred and feathered? Is his response at all surprising? Does it remind you of anything earlier in the novel? Explain. • Why does Huck prefer Tom’s plan for freeing Jim to his own? • After Tom tells Huck that it’s all right for them to steal, Huck steals a watermelon. Tom is angered by this and insists that Huck pay for the watermelon. Why does Tom respond this way, and what does this scene tell us about the differences between Tom and Huck? Chapters 36-39 • How would you compare Huck’s and Tom’s attitudes toward the escape? • What characteristics does Aunt Sally have that enable the boys to take advantage of her? • What is the irony in the way that Tom and Huck get the grindstone into the hut? • Is there any evidence that Jim is really suffering during all of this? Does Huck’s response to Jim’s plight seem reasonable to you? • When Tom devices a coat of arms for Jim, what evidence is there that his knowledge of these things is really quite superficial? Chapter 40 • What does Jim’s behavior in these chapters say about his characters?

10. Modeling: I will guide/give instructions for the work done in the Socratic Seminar and I will help guide the discussion of the questions if the students aren’t sure of the answers. I will guide the students through the Socratic Seminar by sharing my expectations, for example students will be expected to paraphrase what the person before them discussed and then share their findings of how to interpret meaning of chapters thirty-one through forty in the novel. I will act as a facilitator, so if students have not gotten a chance to speak I will point this out and make sure that everyone gets a chance to share since the students will be receiving a participation grade. • Checking for Understanding: I will check for understanding through sampling. I will do this by posing questions to the whole group then getting answers from representative numbers. The posed questions will be the ones listed above that go along with the specific chapters in the novel, chapters thirty-one through forty. I will check for understanding by asking that the students paraphrase what the person before them said in the discussion. This allows me to interpret whether or not the students have been listening and understand the conversation going on in class. • Guided Practice: I will guide the discussion on my expectations of key components of the Socratic Seminar. I will instruct students to answer the question that I propose to them. The questions proposed are about interpreting meaning within the novel and calls for the students to cite evidence from the text. The Socratic Seminar will be a discussion led by the students. I will act as facilitator for the discussion so that everyone know what question we are addressing and so everyone will have the opportunity to share their ideas.

11. Types of Questions Productive Questions Reproductive Questions Prompt students to imitate, recall, or apply knowledge and information taught by the teacher through a mimicked process. • Provide students the opportunity to create, analyze, or evaluate (Tienken, C.S., Goldberg, S. & DiRocco, D., 2009, p. 42-43).

12. Other Discussion/Questioning Strategies • Overt participation: teacher asks productive questions that engage students to think and formulate opinions • Think, pair, share • Choral response: the class responds together after the teacher poses a question (Tienken, C.S., Goldberg, S. & DiRocco, D., 2009, p. 42-43).

13. Conclusion Discussions help students to develop cognitively; discussions prompt students to form their own opinions and interpretations of a text. Discussions also help students to construct their own knowledge of a text with the help of their classmates; thus making all individuals responsible for their learning.