What type(s) of talk are you seeing in your classroom?
I honestly have not seen much talk in my
classroom. I have seen her discuss vocabulary words before reading, and I have
seen her stop in the text to have them make inferences before they read on. I
have not seen any discussion after reading the texts though.
What scaffolding is needed for response-centered talk to take
place?
Notice who is enjoying or is even confused my certain parts
of the text when reading. They may not come out and say it, but they are
personally engaging and it is those moments that they will be motivated to read
that specific part, or to bring up topics in book discussions. It is also
important to read different genres. In the article I read, one student was very
engaged on an informational text about elephants. She stated she wanted to be a
veterinarian. Her interest in animals worked well with informational texts.
There was a study done in the reading that I
did that stated students were more motivated to read when discussions were
focused on their questions.
What types of learning resources are available that have the
potential to promote rich discussions?
There are questionnaires that they can use to
survey other classmates, they can play “Hot seat” with one person sitting in
the chair and they have to portray a character in the book and students have to
ask them questions. They can also do journal writing on what they have learned
or write to characters of the book, or even other classmates, and then we can
discuss in class (or this can be done after discussion)
Think about specific students in your class who do not participate
actively in classroom talk. What types of scaffolding do they need to
participate successfully in response-centered classroom talk?
We have a few ESL students, and one of the articles talked
about how they may not be engaging because they do not understand certain
phrases like, “sitting in the nose bleed section, or pulling my leg.”
Discussing the book with the class rather than answering questions brings much
more understanding for them. I think maybe buddy work could do this, where they
have to come up with things they don’t understand, or things they liked and why
and they have to discuss with each other. There would have to be a clear
outcome though for them, so they see the purpose and benefit from the
discussion.
What are alternative ways to think about the ideas in the initial post?
ReplyDeleteThe whole idea of promoting rich discussions seems like a challenge to me. We've been learning about not putting students on the spot, or making them feel uncomfortable in front of their classmates. So, we would need to create a very inviting, accepting and non judgmental environment for these kids to want to be in the hot seat and want to express their views/ideas.
I have many students who don't participate in classroom talk, but I've noticed they aren't just being lazy, they don't feel comfortable answering because there are some students in my class who will say "no" to their views. However, with these same students, I walk around and see if they have the right answer or a good point to make. I ask them questions about it so when they are called on, they can refer to what they told me and have a solid answer that they feel comfortable sharing with their classmates. I've noticed one student specifically who never shared, but will always share when I help him form a response before classroom talk begins.
For your ESL kids who don't understand phrases, maybe you could use an anonymous box system where at the end of the day questions can be put in and answered by the teacher.
In the article that I read (McGee) they were talking about just asking questions about the book that thy read. Just simple questions like, What did you think about the book? What was your favorite part? and then ask more about that part of the book. They also say that part of the discussion is recitation to make sure that they have mastered the task or concept of the book in relation to the lesson. Maybe the students do not feel comfortable in the classroom to talk about the book.
ReplyDeleteMy mentor teacher does a very good job at this, not only with using books to make sure they mastered it but video clips and movies. She alway has a discussion, even if it is small. You can also do small group discussions and they could lead it them self, like my mentor teacher does.
I think if you could make them feel comfortable to talk about the book and try to give them each a turn to talk about it, they would have some good conversations. My students have some really good in depth conversations.
One thing I noticed in the article I read (Goldenburg) was that is talks a lot about teacher preparation when it comes to discussion. It seems like at first glance - student response centered discussion could be a load off for teacher preparation, but I think this article made a good point in asserting the opposing view. In order to have an engaging and educational discussion the teacher need to prepare a comprehensive thematic understanding of the topic at hand. They also need to thoroughly anticipate student response and be prepared to direct that to the theme and intending course of conversation.
ReplyDelete