1) In their journals, students write an opening question based on their shared reading. Their previous night's homework was to read and prepare a question.
2) They engage in dialogue journals with their partners. They switch their journals and answer the question, posing a new question. They pass their journals back and forth, silently. (I say it's like text messaging. Pretend the person is not in the room.) They end up having two conversations at the same time.
3) Review the Discussion Rubric. This was created during a mini-lesson after the students individually answered the question, “What makes for a good class discussion?”
4) Split the class in two in a fishbowl format.
5) The inside circle discusses first. The outside circle takes notes following the Discussion Rubric. They note how people are listening and responding to each other, and to what extent they are referring to the text. They make a discussion map.
6) Going around in a circle, each person reads her opening question. Nobody answers or makes any comments.
7) The moderator (teacher or student) chooses the question to start with.
8) After a designated amount of time, about 15-20 minutes, the inner circle switches with the outer circle.
9) After the same amount of time, the discussion stops. The students write their debriefing comments and thoughts in their journals.
10) Allow 5 minutes to debrief the discussion. What worked? As a class, set 2 goals for the next discussion.
HOMEWORK: Write an essay answering their original question.
2) They engage in dialogue journals with their partners. They switch their journals and answer the question, posing a new question. They pass their journals back and forth, silently. (I say it's like text messaging. Pretend the person is not in the room.) They end up having two conversations at the same time.
3) Review the Discussion Rubric. This was created during a mini-lesson after the students individually answered the question, “What makes for a good class discussion?”
4) Split the class in two in a fishbowl format.
5) The inside circle discusses first. The outside circle takes notes following the Discussion Rubric. They note how people are listening and responding to each other, and to what extent they are referring to the text. They make a discussion map.
6) Going around in a circle, each person reads her opening question. Nobody answers or makes any comments.
7) The moderator (teacher or student) chooses the question to start with.
8) After a designated amount of time, about 15-20 minutes, the inner circle switches with the outer circle.
9) After the same amount of time, the discussion stops. The students write their debriefing comments and thoughts in their journals.
10) Allow 5 minutes to debrief the discussion. What worked? As a class, set 2 goals for the next discussion.
HOMEWORK: Write an essay answering their original question.
