Essential Questions
What does discussion look like in the classroom?
What does active engagement in discussion look like?
Learning Goals
Learn ways to implement a variety of discussion strategies to improve/enhance substantive student conversations.
Materials List
Session Slides (attached)
Discussion Strategies on LEARN handout (attached, print 2-sided, 1 per participant)
30-Second Expert handout (attached, one per participant)
Chat Station handout (attached, cut in half, one half per participant)
Note Catcher (attached, one per participant)
English Mingle (attached, cut apart, one per presentation)
Tea Party Sentences (attached, cut apart, one per presentation)
Five Chat Station Posters with prompts (see Facilitator’s Note in Engage)
Roaring Twenties Passage (linked, one per participant/group)
Sticky notes
Chart paper
Engage
Display the title on slide 2 as participants enter the room. Have each participant pick up a Note Catcher handout as they enter the room.
Greet participants and introduce the presenters.
Display slide 3 and share the learning objective for the session. Display slide 4 and go over the Norms for Discussion Groups.
Transition to slide 5 to review the directions for the modified English Mingle strategy. Pass out one piece of paper from the English Mingle handout to each participant. Give participants time to read over their characters and share the prompt. Inform them that they are to take some time to discuss the prompt in character based on their assigned Mingle.
Display slide 6 and go over the directions for using the Historical Mingle instructional strategy in the classroom and how it can be modified into an English Mingle. Ask participants the following questions:
How did you feel?
Was this engaging?
How would you use this?
When would you use this?
What barriers to success do you anticipate?
How would you have to adapt this?
Point out to participants the QR code on their Note Catcher and encourage them to fill it in under Historical Mingle.
Display slide 7 and share the session’s essential questions.
Explore
Display slide 8 and introduce the directions for the Tea Party instructional strategy. Pass out the sentence strips from the Tea Party Sentence handout, one to each participant. Instruct participants to read over the sentence on their strip of paper and to think about what the larger reading could be about. Have participants walk around the room and share their sentences with each other. When time is up, all participants return to their seats. Ask: “Who thinks they know what the larger passage is about?” Call on a few participants to share their thoughts.
Display slide 9 and go over the directions for using the Tea Party instructional strategy in the classroom. Ask participants the following questions:
How to you feel?
Was this engaging?
How would you use this?
When would you use this?
What barriers to success do you anticipate?
How would you have to adapt this?
Point out to participants the QR code on their Note Catcher and encourage them to fill it in under Tea Party.
Display slide 10 and introduce the Agreement Circles instructional strategy. Have participants stand up and create a circle. Read the first statement on the slide.
Women’s rights were the primary reason for Prohibition.
Give participants the opportunity to think about the statement. After a few seconds, ask participants to move to the center of the circle if they agree with the statement or to stay where they are on the outside of the circle if they disagree with the statement. Give participants time to defend their opinions. After a few volunteers have shared from each side, give participants the opportunity to change their minds. Again, if they agree they move to the middle of the circle (or stay) and if they disagree, they move to the outside of the circle (or stay).
Repeat for the following statements:
People who sold alcohol made more money during Prohibition.
Prohibition was a government conspiracy to increase crime, therefore controlling the population.
Display slide 11 and go over the directions for using the Agreement Circles instructional strategy in the classroom. Ask participants the following questions:
How did you feel?
Was this engaging?
How would you use this?
When would you use this?
What barriers to success do you anticipate?
How would you have to adapt this?
Point out to participants the QR code on their Note Catcher and encourage participants to fill it in under Agreement Circles.
Explain
Display slide 12 and introduce the Chat Station instructional strategy. Go over the Chat Station Norms with participants from the slide. Pass out the Chat Station half-sheet handout to each participant. Number participants off 1-5. Instruct participants to move to the Chat Station Poster that matches their number. Give participants 3-5 minutes at each station to discuss the prompt and write down the key discussion points. When time runs out, have participants move to the next station. Continue until they have completed all 5 stations.
Display slide 13 and go over the directions for using the Chat Stations instructional strategy in the classroom. Ask participants the following questions:
How did you feel?
Was this engaging?
How would you use this?
When would you use this?
What barriers to success do you anticipate?
How would you have to adapt this?
Point out to participants the QR code on their Note Catcher and encourage participants to fill it in under Chat Stations.
Display slide 14 and share the 30-Second Expert video. Inform participants when it is their turn. Pass out or provide a link to the Roaring Twenties passage. Give participants time to read through the passage.
Display slide 15 and pass out the 30-Second Expert handout to each participant. Provide participants with the time to fill in the right side of the T-chart with everything they know about the Roaring '20s. Encourage them to use what they learned from the passage. When time is up, have participants get into pairs and then choose who will be the speaker and who will be the listener for the first round. Inform the speaker they have 30 seconds to share what they know about the Roaring '20s. They will start their sentence with “I am an expert on the Roaring '20s because I know….” Give the listener time to clarify and add what they learned to their T-chart. Have participants switch roles and repeat the directions.
Display slide 16 and go over the directions for using the 30-Second Expert instructional strategy in the classroom. Ask participants the following questions:
How did you feel?
Was this engaging?
How would you use this?
When would you use this?
What barriers to success do you anticipate?
How would you adapt this?
Point out to participants the QR code on their Note Catcher and encourage participants to fill it in under 30-Second Expert.
Evaluate
Display slide 17 and introduce the Muddiest Point instructional strategy. Pass out a sticky note to each participant. Have them write down the muddiest point or most confusing point from today’s strategy exploration. Give participants time to respond to the prompt and place their sticky note on the poster. Go over the notes as a group to discuss any questions participants might have before the end of the session.
Display slide 18 and go over the directions for using the Muddiest Point instructional strategy in the classroom. Ask participants the following questions:
How did you feel?
Was this engaging?
How would you use this?
When would you use this?
What barriers to success do you anticipate?
How would you have to adapt this?
Point out to participants the QR code on their Note Catcher and encourage participants to fill it in under Muddiest Point.
Display slide 19 and have participants think about which of the instructional strategies they will use in their classroom. Have a few volunteers share out about which strategies they will be using in their classroom and for which lessons.
End the session by thanking participants for participating.
Follow-up Activities
Consider the following ELA professional developments: “Discussion Strategies for Online Learning (ELA),” “Interactive Classrooms in English/Language Arts,” and “Role Call: Literature Circles for Today’s Classroom.”
Research Rationale
Student conversations, supported by cooperative learning structures, have a reputation for developing skills in learners that are relevant to success in today's society. Social skills, problem-solving skills, cultural competency, and increased self-efficacy are all supported when students work together in the classroom (Harris et al., 2012). When students discuss their learning, their learning is made visible to themselves which aids the development of metacognitive skills. Students are able to come to know what it is that they know better as they talk through it (Bingham & Conner, 2015; Tang, 2017). This visible learning is also valuable for the instructor who can see what students' prior understandings are, their misconceptions, and how their knowledge is changing over the course of a lesson. Contributing to the conversation requires reasoning, giving structure to concepts, and doing so allows the speaker to assess and correct logic gaps, resulting in deeper learning (Windschitl, Thompson, and Braaten, 2018).
Resources
Bingham, T., & Conner, M. (2015). The new social learning: Connect. Collaborate. Work. American Society for Training and Development.
Harris, C.J., Phillips, R.S., & Penuel, W.R. (2012). Examining teachers' instructional moves aimed at developing students' ideas and questions in learner-centered science classrooms. Journal of Science Teacher Education, 23(7), 769-788.
K20 Center. (n.d.). 30-Second Expert. Strategies. https://learn.k20center.ou.edu/strategy/1048
K20 Center. (2022, May 10). 30-second expert – LEARN instructional strategy [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DyZ4JYdGAuY&t=1s
K20 Center. (n.d.). Agreement Circle. Strategies. https://learn.k20center.ou.edu/strategy/157
K20 Center. (n.d.). Chat Stations. Strategies. https://learn.k20center.ou.edu/strategy/944
K20 Center. (n.d.). Historical Mingle. Strategies. https://learn.k20center.ou.edu/strategy/184
K20 Center. (n.d.). Muddiest Point. Strategies. https://learn.k20center.ou.edu/strategy/109
K20 Center. (n.d.). Tea Party. Strategies. https://learn.k20center.ou.edu/strategy/105
Tang, K.-S. (2017). Analyzing teachers’ use of metadiscourse: The missing element in classroom discourse analysis. Science Education, 101(4), 548–583. https://doi.org/10.1002/sce.21275
The roaring twenties: Guided questions, activities, and more. CommonLit. (n.d.). Retrieved January 23, 2023, from https://www.commonlit.org/en/texts/the-roaring-twenties
Windschitl, M., Thompson, J., & Braaten, M. (2018). Ambitious science teaching. Cambridge: Harvard Education Press.