1 / 17

Learning Dialogues

Learning Dialogues. Sue Morrell, NBCT Dakota Writing Project January 9, 2008. Discussion in the Classroom. As a teacher, what do you already know about students, reading, and discussion? What does discussion look like in your classes?

macaulay-velazquez
Download Presentation

Learning Dialogues

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Learning Dialogues Sue Morrell, NBCT Dakota Writing Project January 9, 2008

  2. Discussion in the Classroom • As a teacher, what do you already know about students, reading, and discussion? • What does discussion look like in your classes? • What issues/problems/concerns do you face when fostering discussion for learning? • Write: 3-4 minutes (list OK) Share

  3. What the research says…Adrienne Mack-Kirchner, Straight Talk for Today’s Teacher • 85% of the questions in school are “known response” questions (48) • “We turn our students into learning machines when we help them formulate questions and then seek answers.” (46) • Great inquiry questions lead to more questions, ergo more learning (48)

  4. What the research says…McCann, et. al., Talking in Class • We need to create classrooms where inquiry is driven by student discussion rather than teacher talk. (32) • Teachers & students function best in “discovery” mode (54) • Prewriting scaffolds class discussion-- to encourage thoughtful exploration, students need to be engaged, challenged, puzzled, & prepared (55) • Discussion supports deeper reading-- as students develop the specialized language of argument and analysis in discourse, they improve their analytical thinking strategies (152)

  5. What the research says…Sheridan Blau, The Literature Workshop: Teaching Texts and Their Readers, 2003 • Students need to “discover their own power to interpret and interrogate a difficult literary text” (bio note) • “We can understand a text and regard ourselves as competent readers of it even though we still have questions about it.” (41) • “We need to give our students at every stage lots of opportunities to talk about their emerging understanding as it falters and progresses…” (42) • Lecturing to students about the intentions in difficult reading material prior to reading fosters dependence on the teacher’s interpretation. (43)

  6. Focus/Objectives (my classroom) • Inquiry and critical thinking • Probing questions • Connections • Text to text • Text to self • Text to world • Invitation to risk • Preparation for extended learning

  7. The Teaching Model Let’s begin….

  8. Pre-write • Think of an ambition, a goal, a deep desire. • Step into these shoes: You have a once-of-a-lifetime golden opportunity to achieve that ambition. • What are you willing to sacrifice to achieve that goal? (Write: 5 minutes) • Share (optional)

  9. Text background • King Duncan visits Macbeth at home • Lady Macbeth urges Macbeth to grab the opportunity at hand • Macbeth ponders his once-in-a-lifetime golden opportunity… alone

  10. Step 1. Read and Annotate Freely • As you read the excerpted soliloquy, write questions in the margins, highlight key words, make notes about your thoughts, uncover meaning – no wrong way to do this! • Rank your understanding of the text, after this first reading, on a scale of 1 to 5, with 1 being low and 5 being high. • Listening session (students talk, teacher listens)

  11. Step 2. Read again • This time, discuss with a partner what you know and do not know about the text. You might pursue your earlier annotations, or you might just talk about things that confuse you both. • Once again, rank your understanding of the text based on the scale of 1 to 5. • Full class discussion again: Students talk about new understandings and puzzles; teacher listens.

  12. Step 3. Frame Questions • Write a question to clarify [SAY question] • What does the text say? What is the information here? What facts do you see? What words do you wonder about? • Example: What does the speaker mean by “trammel up”? • Work with a partner.

  13. Step 4. Questions (cont’d) • Write a question to determine meaning [MEAN question] • What does the text (a word, phrase or line) suggest? What thoughts and emotions does it call up? What is the character’s intention or motivation when he says this line? • Example: What might the speaker be suggesting when he refers to a “spur to prick the sides of my intent”? • Work with a partner.

  14. Step 5. Questions (cont’d) • Write a so what? question [MATTER question] • Why does ____ matter to the audience? How does ____ connect to the world we know? • Example: Do leaders in the throes of decision-making second-guess themselves? • Work with a partner.

  15. Discussion • Category 1 questions: Say • Category 2 questions: Mean • Category 3 questions: Matter **

  16. From the questions & discussion, let’s move forward… • Reader writes: Learning summary. • What questions or ideas did you hear today that made you think? • What puzzles or confuses you still? • What questions continue to interest you? • What connections can you draw between this text and your world? • May be framed as an exit slip…

  17. Works Cited • Mack-Kirschner, Adrienne. Straight Talk for Today’s Teacher: How to Teach So Students Learn. NH: Heinemann, 2005. • McCann, Thomas M., Larry R. Johannessen, Elizabeth Kahn, & Joseph M. Flanagan. Talking in Class: Using Discussion to Enhance Teaching and Learning. IL: NCTE, 2006. • Blau, Sheridan. The Literature Workshop: Teaching Texts and Their Readers. NH: Heinemann, 2003.

More Related