Introduction
The 6th grade lesson began like any other typical classroom activity; the teacher told the students they were going to compare and contrast different texts and genres to understand their approaches to similar themes and topics. However, what happened next differed from what is typically found in many middle school classrooms.
Students gathered in groups of four or five and began to discuss the anchor prompt while using other questions they had generated after reading three books: Iqbal, Wonder, and The Hunger Games. The conversation flowed fluidly with all students participating and asking questions such as, "How would you compare Iqbal in Iqbal to August in Wonder?" "What do you think is worse for August: the bullying because of his face or just the fact that he has a different face?" and "Who do you think experienced more social injustice, Iqbal in Iqbal, August in Wonder, or Katniss in The Hunger Games?" These questions were generated by students of varying abilities, and all members were eager to contribute to the group discussion. Even though not all of the questions were formed properly, they represented the deep thinking students had done on their own.
After this discussion, one of the students, Haroon, shared with his teacher that Wonder was the first chapter book he had read completely on his own. When asked why he chose to read this book, he responded matter-of-factly: "All of my friends in the group were reading and talking about the book, and it sounded interesting. So I wanted to read it too. But it was hard for me. I had to sit with a dictionary next to me and look up words I didn't know. At first, I had to look up a lot of words, but as we talked about the book, it got easier to read."
We've known for almost 20 years that student-led discussions result in better outcomes. So why aren't these practices seen in more classrooms across the country? The most common response given by educators is that students don't take responsibility when teacher-led questioning strategies are used; therefore, teachers don't believe students will be ready to do it on their own.
This publication seeks to provide educators with a framework that describes what some teachers have done to help students experience the type of success exemplified by Haroon and his classmates. In addition, I hope to offer K–12 educators a resource to use when teaching students to engage in rich conversations about books, video, or other media. Finally, I'll share how to gradually release responsibility to students when they are able to conduct effective and productive conversations on their own.
The perspective presented in the following pages takes conversations to a deeper level and should be used in all disciplines. Student-Led Discussions provides a basis for dialogue across all grades and content areas. Although prescriptions for how to teach are not provided, a number of written examples and codes for video viewing are included to demonstrate students' thinking and show examples of key discussion components across grades. Throughout, there are video references to help clarify written text and show authentic examples of student work. A number of video clips with their respective links will appear in specific places throughout these pages to provide vivid, visual examples in order to add more clarity to the content. Additionally, a complete list of all the videos is listed in the Encore section.
To aid comprehension, I recommend you read the text in its entirety before viewing the video examples. After you finish reading and understand the flow and content of the ideas presented, you can reread sections of interest before viewing the related videos.
The students in these videos did not follow a script or practice prior to capturing these examples. Occasionally, you may see other students or hear surrounding classroom noise, which further demonstrates the authenticity of the work. To eliminate background noise in most examples, small groups of students were taken to other quiet areas of the school during the recording.
Videos of students in 1st through 9th grades were selected for this resource. Although the context and level of discussion may differ, many of the underlying themes and core elements are appropriate for students from the primary grades through high school.
It takes a long time to develop a classroom culture of self-directed learners in which deep, rich conversations flow seamlessly among students. I hope that Student-Led Discussions provides direction and tools to develop the capacity of your students to lead and engage in extensive discussions that result in more student talk, higher-level thinking, wider group participation, greater group cohesion, and richer inquiry. Nystrand (2006) found that as little as 10 minutes of text-based peer discussion daily improved students' standardized test scores. Students who engage in these types of meaningful conversations will also experience and practice the skills necessary to become productive citizens in the 21st century.
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