Circle of Knowledge

Circle of Knowledge in a nutshell:

• provides teachers with a way to plan and conduct discussions that foster student participation and critical thinking.

• uses multiple recognition techniques so teacher can move easily from a question-and-answer session to a genuine discussion.

• Circle of knowledge is dependent on a number of techniques or "moves" that the teacher makes during the discussion to keep student participation high, a strong focus on essential content, and high levels  of thinking.

Implementing Circle of Knowledge in the classroom

1. Spark the discussion by posing an open-ended question that hooks students into the material.

2. Give students time to stop and think about the question.

3. Sharpen the focus of the discussion by posing a focusing question that highlights the central topic or them of the discussion.

4. Have students "kindle" their responses by jotting down their initial responoses and sharing and comparing their responses in small groups.

5. Engage whole class in the discussion. Encourage students to share their ideas, respond to prompts and questions from you or other students, refine their ideas, and evaluate the depth of their understanding.

6. During the discussion, use a variety of recognition techniques (See below).

7. Record students' responses and summarize key content with students.

Allow students to reflect on the discussion and their own participation.

Synthesize student learning with a task that asks them to apply what they learned during the discussion.

Moves to Increase Participation

• Allow students to test and share ideas in small groups.

• Use a variety of recognition techniques. When calling on students, don't limit yourself to student volunteering, random calling, or surveying. You can significantly increase the level and quality of student participation by using these additional techniques:

Student calling:  in which one student addresses a question to another, encourages students to stop talking to you and start engaging with one another.

Round Robin:  which gives every student a turn to talk, creates the expectation that students will have an opportunity and a responsibility to speak. It is especially useful for students who feel anxious about sharing.

Sampling: or asking the same question to a number of students in succession, helps establish a pool or range of ideas.

Redirection: redirecting a student's question to another student-raised proposition.

• Court controversy - Use tools like Physical Barometer, People Graph, and Priority Pyramid to get all students involved and invested in the discussion.

Physical Barometer:  requires students to get up and take a physical position according to their opinions. For example, you might ask students to stand (literally) on the issue of animal testing in scientific research: students who are opposed go to corner A, those who support in corner B, and those who are not sure stand in the middle of the room. Groups of students who hold the same position discuss their positions and then explain and depend their positions to the rest of the class. Use can use Physical Barometer at both the beginning and the end of a discussion to encourage students to reflect on how and why their positions changed or remained the same.

People Graph: a variation on Physical Barometer. Students share their opinions about an issue or a question by lining up in the classroom or hallway along a continuum. For example: 0-10, where 0 = strongly disagree and 10 = strongly agree according to the strength of their opinions.

Priority Pyramid: asks students to rank items in order of importance using a Pyramid Organizer, with the items descending in importance from top to bottom. Students must explain the criteria they used to rand the items. Students must explain the criteria they used to rank the items. For example, you might ask the class, "Which forms of renewable energy that we have discussed do you think the United States should invest in? Rank your choices from first to last, and explain your reasoning behind your ranking."

• Moves to keep focus

Integrate note making into discussions

Record responses and summarize frequently

Summarize discussion

• Moves for Encouraging High Levels of Thinking

Pose questions, use silence and wait time, probe, accept, clarify, and elaborate

Silver, Harvey F., R. Thomas. Dewing, and Matthew J. Perini. The Core Six: Essential Strategies for Achieving Excellence with the Common Core. Alexandria, VA: ASCD, 2012. Print.