Embedded Files
Problem
The knowledge is in the room - the teacher doesn’t hold all the knowledge so I wanted to move away from that mentality and frankly, I’m tired of hearing my own voice.
Hypothesis
If students feel like their ideas and opinions matter, then they will be more open and feel more confident when sharing their knowledge in discussions. This is measured by student engagement, as well as, text-to-self/world/text connections.
Target group
12th grade ELA - All students can benefit and deepen their learning through participating and engaging in student led discourse.
Planning & resources
Strategy 1: CONCENTRIC CIRCLES > a.k.a. Speed Dating
Basic Structure: Students form two circles, one inside circle and one outside circle. Each student on the inside is paired with a student on the outside; they face each other. The teacher poses a question to the whole group and pairs discuss their responses with each other. Then the teacher signals students to rotate: Students on the outside circle move one space to the right so they are standing in front of a new person (or sitting, as they are in the video). Now the teacher poses a new question, and the process is repeated.
Variations: Instead of two circles, students could also form two straight lines facing one another. Instead of “rotating” to switch partners, one line just slides over one spot, and the leftover person on the end comes around to the beginning of the line. Some teachers use this strategy to have students teach one piece of content to their fellow students, making it less of a discussion strategy and more of a peer teaching format. In fact, many of these protocols could be used for peer teaching as well.
Strategy 2: FISHBOWL >
Basic Structure: Two students sit facing each other in the center of the room; the remaining students sit in a circle around them. The two central students have a conversation based on a pre-determined topic and often using specific skills the class is practicing (such as asking follow-up questions, paraphrasing, or elaborating on another person’s point). Students on the outside observe, take notes, or perform some other discussion-related task assigned by the teacher.
Variations: One variation of this strategy allows students in the outer circle to trade places with those in the fishbowl, doing a relay-style discussion, or they may periodically “coach” the fishbowl talkers from the sidelines. Teachers may also opt to have students in the outside circle grade the participants’ conversation with a rubric, then give feedback on what they saw in a debriefing afterward, as mentioned in the featured video.
Strategy 3: HOT SEAT >
Basic Structure: One student assumes the role of a book character, significant figure in history, or concept (such as a tornado, an animal, or the Titanic). Sitting in front of the rest of the class, the student responds to classmates’ questions while staying in character in that role.
Variations: Give more students the opportunity to be in the hot seat while increasing everyone’s participation by having students do hot seat discussions in small groups, where one person per group acts as the “character” and three or four others ask them questions. In another variation, several students could form a panel of different characters, taking questions from the class all together and interacting with one another like guests on a TV talk show.
Strategy 4: THE TQE METHOD >
This protocol has students come up with their own Thoughts, lingering Questions, and Epiphanies from an assigned reading. Teachers who have used this method say it has generated some of the richest conversations they have ever heard from students!
Strategy 5: Silent Gallery Walk
Whatever the work, Gallery Walk (which was inspired by an art project of the same name) always encourages a different level of participation. Sometimes students take notes, seeking certain aspects of the work to share, and other times it’s more open-ended. Students are also directed to walk around with Post-it notes to leave comments or follow-up questions. Afterward, students discuss the topic as a whole or start out talking in small groups and then move to a larger one.
Gallery Walk provides everyone an equal opportunity to prepare for participation in three steps: look, think, and share. Many kids need this extra time and quiet to process their thoughts. With extra time the result is more participation.
LOOK: To begin, the student’s efforts are presented in an accessible space in the classroom, posted on a bulletin board or placed on desks or tables.
THINK: Give the students time to look at one another’s work and either comment directly onto it or make notes on a separate piece of paper. The comments, ideas, or responses must be written down so later they may be shared. Provide each student with the opportunity to reflect upon the comments made about their work and to ask questions about the comments left by their classmates.
SHARE: Use the comments and notes to discuss and dialogue about each student’s or group’s work. This can take many forms, such as small-group or whole-class discussions.
Teacher Made Materials
Data collection
Data collection
Baseline data
Students were observed in whole class and small group discussions to see what discussion skills they were bringing to the community. We gradually moved from student led discussions and small group reading protocols to combining fish bowl and Socratic Seminar for “The Glass Castle” performance task.
Measuring success
Student success was measured by teacher observations, benchmarks, peer observations/feedback, and their fishbowl/Socratic Seminar Performance Task.
Overall findings & impact
Over the course of the semester, I found areas of success. Students who were previously less willing to speak in whole group discussions worked their way up to Socratic Seminar towards the end of The Glass Castle unit by participating in weekly student led small group discussions.
Going forward, I’d like to work with a group of students and model different student led discussions first so the rest of the students are able to visualize what specific student led discussions look like before they try it on their own. I’m looking forward to trying Hot Seat and Concentric Circles and perhaps revisit Socratic Seminar in another unit.
Actionable steps
If you want to use this strategy in your classroom, I recommend …
There’s a lot of prep work that goes into student led discussions - use graphic organizers in the beginning to help students guide their discussions.
Be intentional about student grouping.
Model inquiry questions and how student led discussions should look.
Use Accountable Talk.
Trudy Moi | trudy.moi@uamaker.nyc
Page updated
Report abuse