Sense-Making Discussions
Sense-Making Discussions
Sense-Making Discussions
Classroom conversation is essential, it addresses important academic content and is a critical component of the lesson, including whole class, small group, and pair or partner discussions. Through discussions, teachers and students explore ideas and use evidence to build and critique academic arguments. There is solid research evidence and wide-spread agreement that academically productive discussion is critical for learning in science.
Classroom conversation is essential, it addresses important academic content and is a critical component of the lesson, including whole class, small group, and pair or partner discussions. Through discussions, teachers and students explore ideas and use evidence to build and critique academic arguments. There is solid research evidence and wide-spread agreement that academically productive discussion is critical for learning in science.
The Regents of the University of California Berkeley, 2019
The Regents of the University of California Berkeley, 2019
Click on poster for directions on how to print.
Click on poster for directions on how to print.
Sense-Making Discussions in FOSS
Sense-Making Discussions in FOSS
Sense-Making Discussion for Three Dimensional Learning
Sense-Making Discussion for Three Dimensional Learning
Something to think about...
Something to think about...
Oracy in the Classroom: Strategies for Effective Talk
Oracy in the Classroom: Strategies for Effective Talk
Click on Science Sense-Making Discussion bookmark for a printable version >>>
Click on Science Sense-Making Discussion bookmark for a printable version >>>
Promoting Discourse in Science Class
Promoting Discourse in Science Class
"...Students cannot fully understand scientific and engineering ideas without engaging in the practices of inquiry and the discourses by which such ideas are developed and refined."
"...Students cannot fully understand scientific and engineering ideas without engaging in the practices of inquiry and the discourses by which such ideas are developed and refined."
National Research Council, 2029
Talk Science
Talk Science
Imagine a classroom where students have just completed a science investigation and a whole class discussion is underway. Students put forth competing ideas in their clearest and strongest form, even though some ideas may turn out to be more correct than others. Students explain their ideas in detail with evidence. They listen carefully to each other with respect. Students take seriously and evaluate their own and others’ competing ideas. In other words, they are intellectually engaged.
Imagine a classroom where students have just completed a science investigation and a whole class discussion is underway. Students put forth competing ideas in their clearest and strongest form, even though some ideas may turn out to be more correct than others. Students explain their ideas in detail with evidence. They listen carefully to each other with respect. Students take seriously and evaluate their own and others’ competing ideas. In other words, they are intellectually engaged.
“I thoroughly enjoyed the FOSS Training, and I am excited to incorporate what I experienced. One positive area that stood out to me far more than others was the incorporation of sense-making discussions. The online database for the teachers' manuals has documents with sense-making discussion prompts, sentence strands, and discourse guidance to use with students to encourage a deeper level of conceptual understanding. The sense-making discussions allow for well-designed follow-up questions to gauge how well our students understood the lesson.”
“I thoroughly enjoyed the FOSS Training, and I am excited to incorporate what I experienced. One positive area that stood out to me far more than others was the incorporation of sense-making discussions. The online database for the teachers' manuals has documents with sense-making discussion prompts, sentence strands, and discourse guidance to use with students to encourage a deeper level of conceptual understanding. The sense-making discussions allow for well-designed follow-up questions to gauge how well our students understood the lesson.”
Mrs. Julia Adamski, 3rd Grade Teacher Ramstein Intermediate School (2018)
Mrs. Julia Adamski, 3rd Grade Teacher Ramstein Intermediate School (2018)
