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Text-Based Discussion. Essential Questions. What is “real” discussion in the classroom? What can teachers do to facilitate meaningful talk among students and adults? What are the benefits of practicing and engaging in classroom discussion? How can I track students’ progress?.
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Essential Questions • What is “real” discussion in the classroom? • What can teachers do to facilitate meaningful talk among students and adults? • What are the benefits of practicing and engaging in classroom discussion? • How can I track students’ progress?
Learning Targets • I can explain the difference between text-based discussion and other discussion formats • I can prepare for and facilitate text-based discussions • I can assess and monitor progress in text-based discussion • I can demonstrate my understanding in unit and lesson planning
“Discussion is an important tool of learning. It engages students, broadens their perspectives, and promotes meaning-making, decision-making, and higher-level thinking. Discussion is difficult, even for adults. We converse, we share, we argue, we report, and we think we have discussed. But true discussion is purposeful interchange of ideas through which meaning has the possibility of being revised and extended.” --from Classroom Discussion by Dixie Spiegel (2005)
Why discuss texts? Each of the following discussion features is linked with improved reading achievement: • authentic questions, which were used to explore differing understandings rather than to "test" what students might already know; • open discussion: whole-class discourse devoted to free exchange of ideas among students or between at least three participants (Applebee, et al. 2003)
Why discuss texts? • Struggling students experience significantly less discussion than high-tracked students 42 seconds vs. 3.3 minutes per hour • Observations showed maximum discussion periods were severely restricted for struggling students compared with high-track students 3 minutes vs. 14.5 minutes per hour --(Applebee, et al. 2003)
Types of discussion • Text-based discussion • Students form questions based on their confusions and connections with a text • Question-based discussion • The teacher prepares questions over text(s) and guides students through a pre-determined series of questions and answers
Prepare Students for Discussion • ADD PHOTO
Discussion Video • What skills do students demonstrate in this discussion? • What do you notice about student behaviors and interactions during the discussion?
Assessing Discussion • What will be assessed? • Who will assess? • How will the assessment be recorded and shared? • How will the results be used?
Reflective Journal “Because developing discussion skills takes time out of an already crowded six-hour school day, assessing the effects of discussion on learning the curriculum is absolutely critical. Think both big and small! Think big when it comes to your goals, but think small when it comes to the steps to reach those goals. Identify small monthly goals, assess your students’ progress, tinker with your curriculum, and celebrate even the smallest strides toward reaching your big goals. You will find that discussion is an exciting tool for engaging your students in learning. Give your students and yourself the time you need to make true discussion an everyday event in your classroom. I can explain the difference between text-based discussion and other discussion formats I can prepare for and facilitate text-based discussions I can assess and monitor progress in text-based discussion I can demonstrate my understanding in unit and lesson planning
Bibliography Applebee, Arthur, Judith Langer, Martin Nystrand & Adam Gamoran. “Discussion-Based Approaches to Developing Understanding: Classroom Instruction and Student Performance in Middle and High School English.”American Educational Research Journal, Vol. 40, No. 3. (Autumn, 2003), pp. 685-730. Retrieved from the World Wide Web: http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=00028312%28200323%2940%3A3%3C685%3 (June 2010). Carnegie Corporation. Reading Next: A Vision for Action and Research in Middle and High Schools. Alliance for Excellent Education. New York: 2004. Spiegel, Dixie. Classroom Discussion. Scholastic Inc. 2005.