Lesson Study

As a lesson study group, we wanted to dive into the topic of student engagement and their ability to work effectively in groups, while fostering their interdependence. We thought this was an important topic to highlight because when students are put in groups, some students' voices are not being heard or included. Our goal is to be inclusive in bringing students voices in group discussions. We will support building students' confidence in seeing the value of their own ideas and seeing the value of others ideas to highlight the strengths each person brings to the group. 

This lesson took place in Ms. Garcia's 3rd grade classroom at High Tech Elementary in North County. The lesson we designed was that of fostering positive interdependence through assessments and activities.  As a lesson study group we hoped to be inclusive in brining in students voices into group discussions, supporting students' confidence by teaching them the value of their voice and by seeing the value of thier peers' ideas, in order to highlight the strengths of each group member. 

Lesson Planning/Research

Equity Based Research Question: How can supporting students in effective communication foster their interdependence?

Research Theme: Students aren't communicating and working effectively in groups which led to our research question to be “how can supporting students in effective communication foster their interdependence?” We notice that when students are put in groups some students' voices are not being heard or included. Our goal is to be inclusive in bringing students voices in group discussions. We will support building students’ confidence in seeing the value of their own ideas and seeing the value of others ideas to highlight the strengths each person brings to the group.

Students will be able to effectively communicate and engage in a socratic seminar to discuss what it means for our community to be fair for everyone.

Three big ideas gathered from the readings relating to research theme:

- Critical Pedagogy having students question things and be more curious 

- Complex Instruction- having students build on their interdependence within a group setting while the teacher disrupts inequitable dynamics (race, power, gender, etc…). 

- UDL: act and express their learning in a meaningful way 

• Self support, persistence, communication, self regulation 

• Give verbal, visual, interaction activities 

• Better to read print than computer for comprehension

- Common theme we found was the importance of supporting students' ability to advocate for themselves and others. Having a voice and providing them tools to do so.

Theory of Action:  

If we build students’ communication skills by asking thought provoking questions to further students' thinking in a socratic seminar while making sense of a fair community then students will be able to effectively communicate and engage in a socratic seminar discussion about what it means for our community to be fair for everyone, resulting in students being able to see the value of their own ideas and their peer’s ideas. We’ll see if it’s working by tracking their ability to use sentence starters to have an on-topic socratic seminar discussion about the book “Rise Up And Write It.”

Problem of Practice: 

Students aren’t communicating and working effectively in groups.

Student Work:

Student Responses: The amount of times each student spoke was documented. 

Students have been working in groups. Oftentimes when participating in group work, students aren't communicating and working effectively with their peers. Students have been reading the book "Rise up and WriteI It", which is a book that highlights the importance of speaking out and getting involved in your community and local government. The students were then given the task to participate in a socratic seminar within their classroom, answering questions on the board with their peers about the book. Additionally, the goal of the lesson was to be inclusive by bringing students voices in group discussions. We focused on supporting building students' confidence in seeing the value of their own ideas and seeing the value of others ideas to highlight the strengths each person brings to the group discussion. To encourage interdependence, students were given strict instructions about what it means to participate in a group discussion, along with norms to have positive and meaningful discussions with their peers. 

Overall, the lesson went very smooth. After conducting both PDSA cycle #1 and #2, students knew how to interact with one another in a group setting, such as a socratic seminar. Students were able to not only respond to their peers, but also encourage others to participate in group discussions as well as, extend off of their peers' ideas. Ms. Garcia highlighted those strengths in between questions, as well as after each 2 minute timer was up to respond to the question at hand. Moreover, aside from having meaningful discussions, building off of each others ideas, and brining in unheard voices, students were also able to reflect on their ability to follow classroom norms and socratic seminar norms. After one group went through all of the questions, we took the time to pause and share some strengths and noticings from the previous groups ability to hold and execute a valuable socratic seminar with meaningful discussions. Many of the students were able to share some specific observations from the socratic seminar, whether on the inside or outer circle. 

Additionally, after each group's turn in the socratic seminar and taking notes, they were able to then go to their seats and reflect on their partners ability to actively participate in the socratic seminar (making eye contact, speaking clearly, actively listening, calling someone in, building on someone else's ideas, any celebrations and what they can improve on for the next time). Each student went back to their desk, responded individually, and honestly. It was nice to see the classroom management at hand, as well as, the group norms being followed and ensuring students are meeting expectations. 

Research