Resources, ideas and prompts for discussion related to Questioning. What is it and how does it work? Socratic Questioning is all about probing for more depth and understanding in student responses.…
Go beyond think-pair-share with ten discussion strategies that will engage your students in meaningful paired and small group discussions.
Elevate classroom discussions and make every discussion meaningful with these four simple pre- and post-discussion strategies!
Elevate classroom discussions and make every discussion meaningful with these four simple pre- and post-discussion strategies!
Active learning isn't too far away with these 12 active learning strategies that support the learning process! Examples of active learning include class discussion, peer instruction, reciprocal questioning, game-based learning, Socratic questioning, exit tickets, and think-pair-share. Using active
Every English language arts teacher needs a variety of successful, student led discussion strategies that will provide opportunities for student learning.
Small group discussion is so beneficial but so hard to facilitate! To help keep your students accountable to inclusive and on-topic conversation, try this teacher-trusted "tower of talk" method!
One Friday night, I was watching Real-Time with Bill Maher, a political show that brings together people from all political views to discuss topics of the day in a panel format. I suddenly had a vision of my classroom with my students as the expert panelists and the quick-fingered audience "Tweeters." After some contemplation and
Any teacher can improve classroom discussions using simple questioning strategies. Here’s how you can activate student voice and involve all learners...
Elevate classroom discussions and make every discussion meaningful with these four simple pre- and post-discussion strategies!
Here they are: 15 formats for structuring a class discussion to make it more engaging, more organized, more equitable, and more academically challenging.
Elevate classroom discussions and make every discussion meaningful with these four simple pre- and post-discussion strategies!
(Grid adapted from pablo_75 on TES)Questioning is the key means by which teachers find out what pupils already know, identify gaps in knowledge and understanding and scaffold the development of their understanding to enable them to close the gap between what they currently know and the learning goals.Questions are the most common form of interaction between pupils and teachers, yet research suggests that the majority are recall and comprehension - lower-order questions which do not require pupil
Here they are: 15 formats for structuring a class discussion to make it more engaging, more organized, more equitable, and more academically challenging.
Any teacher can improve classroom discussions using simple questioning strategies. Here’s how you can activate student voice and involve all learners...
Every English language arts teacher needs a variety of successful, student led discussion strategies that will provide opportunities for student learning.
Elevate classroom discussions and make every discussion meaningful with these four simple pre- and post-discussion strategies!
Any teacher can improve classroom discussions using simple questioning strategies. Here’s how you can activate student voice and involve all learners...
Using a silent discussion strategy allows for all students' voices to be heard and for the assessment of individual understanding of a text. Students practice agreeing or disagreeing and providing textual evidence just as they would in an oral discussion.
Engage your students in discussion with our simple classroom discussion strategies and activities that are sure to improve students skills.
Comprehension strategy work is really important. In this post, ten research based strategies and lesson freebies are shared.
Questioning is a part of every job we have. In this post, I share strategies to help your readers before, during, and after reading.
Elevate classroom discussions and make every discussion meaningful with these four simple pre- and post-discussion strategies!
Any teacher can improve classroom discussions using simple questioning strategies. Here’s how you can activate student voice and involve all learners...
Elevate classroom discussions and make every discussion meaningful with these four simple pre- and post-discussion strategies!
Engage your students in discussion with our simple classroom discussion strategies and activities that are sure to improve students skills.
Twitter conversations have grown in their importance. Here is how to find and use Twitter conversations to grow your audience and business.
After years of listening to shallow student discussions, this teacher found a way to make those conversations more natural, more interesting, and more real.
Engagement Strategies Last Saturday as I was perusing Twitter, I saw this awesome post on engagement strategies. When I clicked on the...
Let's navigate through the seas of their experience, from personal anecdotes to strategic insights, with questions designed to elicit the most...
Creepy crawly spiders! Heights! The dark! These are some common top fears to name a few, and if you're anything like me, heck, you're not too fond of any of those three. But do you know what the number one fear is? The one that outweighs all others? Glossophobia. (Cue the eery music) Dun, da, dun! Now before we get all panicked and shriek in horror, what exactly is this dreadful phobia? In layman's terms--the fear of public speaking. Even if you don't personally suffer from glossophobia, you probably have experienced some type of symptoms like a racing heart, sweaty palms, dry mouth, or some type of mild anxiety before speaking in front of others. So how do we get better at communicating in a group setting, and how do we prepare our students, even at a young age, to do this? Like other academic skills, how to participate in a discussion is something that needs to be taught explicitly. When I was early in my teaching career, whole class discussion typically consisted of me asking the questions while my students provided the answers. Sure, the questions were good, and by good, I mean the kinds of questions that were open-ended and required critical thinking. But still, I was the one that was doing all the leading. I was doing all the asking. I was doing all the steering. I was the driver if you will. Now instead imagine a classroom where the students are the ones in the driver's seat. The students are the ones asking the questions AND providing the answers. The students are the ones steering the discussion. Over my years of teaching, I have learned (and am still learning!) to "release control," and recently, I envisioned a classroom where student-led discussion was the norm. Thus, began my quest of how to make this happen. If I wanted my students to truly lead the discussion in my classroom, then I would need to give them the skills and tools to be able to do this. This is where gradual release comes into play. Gradual release is the process in which you basically pass the baton slowly from teacher to student as students gain independence with a particular skill or concept. Here's how it works. 1) You teach the skill directly. This involves direct instruction and modeling. 2) You involve students in the process while you still support. This is often referred to as guided instruction. For example, for a math lesson involving the steps of solving a story problem, you now do a few story problems "together." 3) You give students independent practice time with the skill while you provide feedback, both affirming and adjusting (i.e. "I see you drew a picture to help you solve the problem, great job choosing a strategy. Let's double check your addition in the tens place...") . 4) You wrap up the lesson by clearing up misconceptions, going over answers from independent work, and perhaps informally assessing students through say an exit ticket or cold calling with popsicle sticks. In sum, you go from "me" to "we" to "you." So I thought, why couldn't this process be used for teaching student-led discussion? Using the idea of gradual release, I broke down teaching student-led discussion into the six steps below: The outline above involves starting in baby steps. First, introduce students to discussion stems. It is best to only start with a few at a time as well as to choose more concrete stems to begin with like, "I have a question..." or "I agree/disagree with..." first. These stems give students the language they need to jump into the discussion both in the format of asking a question as well as replying with a comment or relevant thought. I have designed 16 meaningful discussion stem posters for students to refer to. The posters come in three different sizes, one perfect for hanging up on your classroom walls, one perfect to put on a ring and use for a small group, and one perfect for students to use as their individual resource. Second, have students begin with less-academic, more fun topics vs. essential questions that require critical thinking. The goal here is that students can initially focus mostly on their communication skills vs. having to delve into deep thinking. Of course, once students have had ample practice learning the process of student-led discussion, then by all means dive head first into critical thinking guided by your academic units! For teaching student-led discussion with juicy yet "easy" topics that hook students' interest, I created 20 discussion starters to use. Third, give students time to write down their thinking and plan out what they are going to say about the topic rather than making them think and speak on the spot. I created some planning templates that can be used for any topic or essential question so that they can be used for meaty academic topics too. (P.S. They are editable so that I can type in my topic or essential question and make as many copies as I need!! Whoopee!!) Fourth, set clear expectations before you start the student-led discussion such as what respectful listening looks like. Teach, model, and have students model these expectations so that you are setting students up for success. Fifth, give students a goal as to how many times to speak and over time, increase it. For example, for the very first practice, you might say something like, "Today, everyone needs to speak at least one time. You may participate by asking a question, making a comment, or responding to someone else's comment. If you want to participate more than one time in the discussion, you may." Here's a rubric that can help students self-monitor and self-evaluate their communication skills. Sixth, the very first time students practice student-led discussion, participate as the teacher as needed, calling on students who may need some encouragement. Over time, you will participate less and less until not at all! I made some recording sheets as an assessment tool to give students feedback, celebrate sutdents' successes, and support students in making growth in their communication skills. They come in different forms where I can record specific discussion stems students used or just in general whether students asked a question or made a comment. I also made them different sizes--one for whole class, one for small group. (PPS These are editable too so that student names can be typed directly on the sheet!) The key to this whole process is baby steps. You want students to feel safe, encouraged, and confident, and the way to do this is to give students the tools they need up front and then release them slowly towards independence. To see this "How to Teach Meaningful Student-Led Discussion Pack" in detail, click on the image below! With the resources in this pack, your students certainly will not suffer from glossophobia as you create a safe and welcoming environment where students lead the discussion as your norm. Now as calming other fears like spiders... Good luck! :)
Normally, teachers like to avoid off-task topics, like "would you rather" questions. But, there can be a useful time and place for these fun questions!
Get kids talking about what they've read with these FREE Discussion Question Cards for fiction AND nonfiction texts!
A free worksheet and list of decisions and choices conversation questions. This is an interestng discussion topic for ESL and general English.
In this post we’ll discuss what the Socratic Method is, how to use it, and advantages and disadvantages of the Socratic Method of teaching.
Want your students to have rich, complex conversations about the texts they read? This method leads to the kinds of classroom discussions you thought only happened in college.
I can’t find it now but I ran across some research a year or so ago that suggested that 70-80% of all conversations in K-12 classrooms is teacher to student. As in . . . we can’t stop t…
Engaging classroom discussion strategies that are ideal for middle and high school students in virtual, blended, and in-person settings? Yes!
Here they are: 15 formats for structuring a class discussion to make it more engaging, more organized, more equitable, and more academically challenging.
Asking questions is a regular part of reading instruction, but asking the right types of questions can be harder than it seems. Questions should be designed to promote higher level thinking, encourage students discussion, build better understanding of a concept, and challenge students' thinking. Asking questions like this is hard to do without preparation and planning. Below, find links to ... Read More
Check out our top 30 deep philosophical questions about life, existence, and more. They are great for critical thinking and discussions!
Talking Sticks is a management strategy that encourages all students to participate equally in a discussion. The ready-to-use discussion cards in this packet will help facilitate the discussion and keep it focused on a particular topic. Editable discussion cards are also included to make it easy to ...
