GEAR UP Alliance 2011 Institute for a College-Going Culture: Drive the dream The Power of Academic...

GEAR UP Alliance 2011 Institute for a College-Going Culture:Drive the dream

The Power of Academic Discourse: Questions Lead to Answers

Ashley Perkins, NBCTEducational Programs Consultant, CTL


Morning WorkshopSelect one of the Reader Response prompts from

the table tent and respond to the following quote:

“Conversation is the laboratory and workshop of the student.”

-Ralph Waldo Emerson


Standards•Build on foundational understanding of academic dialogue as means to support student learning and engagement•Promote own and others’ learning through community conversation, collaboration and reflection


Reading

Writing Speaking/ Listening


Mini-LessonPurpose: To increase understanding of textual ideas and

values, as well as understanding of self and others.

Key Components•Choosing the text•Preparing the questions•Facilitating the dialogue•Engaging student participation


Types of QuestionsClose-Ended: Recalls a fact from the piece. Questions could begin with summarize, retell, who, what, when, where, why, and how. Has a “right” answer.

Open-Ended: Requires thinking, discussing and searching in text to support an answer. Questions begin with contrast, compare, explain, defend, predict, infer, etc.

Thematic: Considers what the author wanted reader to learn through theme and message.

Real-World Connection: Connects text to text, text to self, or text to world.


Scaffolding: Model the Question Writing

Process


Close-Ended Question

Who helps Cinderella make her ball gown?


Open-Ended Question

Defend whether the stepmother is a sympathetic character or not.


Thematic Question

Infer the author’s stance on blended families.


Application Question

Think about other stories that have a Prince Charming. Do you think a

belief in a Prince Charming is healthy or unhealthy for young women?


Scaffolding: Allow Students to Engage

with Questions


Applying New LearningAt your tables, collectively sort the slips of papers into four categories: close-ended, open-ended, thematic, or real-world.

Hint: There are 3 questions for each type of question.


Applying New Learning•At your tables, collectively decide on one fairy tale.•Using that fairy tale, write a close-ended, open-ended, thematic, and real-world application question.•Be prepared to share.


The following dialogue is a threaded conversation that is happening in an 11 th grade ELA classroom where students are discussing The Grapes of Wrath. Students are applying questioning, defending, and referencing skills to engage in academic discourse

Student 1: Do you think the government camps were socialist or democratic in design? (open-ended)Student 2: I actually think they had a more democratic, more than a socialist, system because they were talking about voting people into certain committees where they could decide the laws and stuff.Student 3: I disagree; I think the camp is kind of doomed to fail because it is basically a socialist or communist society and socialism has never succeeded in the history of mankind. Student 4: Yeah. It says on page 288 that Pa is asking him why the place is so great and the book says the washman looked sullen and that just made me suspicious that there is something bad going in this camp.Student 5: To say socialism has failed is true but has anything ever worked? (real-world connection) Teacher: So are you saying these people are doomed to fail regardless of the type of system they create for themselves?


Impact on Student Learning

• Students follow a collaborative protocol• Students question and examine content understanding

and conceptual ideas through multiple perspectives• Students become reflective thinkers respective of

diverse points of view• Students develop habits of mind that support critical

thinking through focusing on reasoning, perspective, conceptual ideas, and problem solving


What Students Are Saying

“The academic dialogue part of Socratic Seminar has always been

helpful, especially when several individuals have differing opinions, because I have several perspectives from which to

look at the text.” -Dezirae; High School Student, KY

“Academic dialogue is used for making the world more exciting and accurate. To converse like a scholar helps us learn better

and understand clearer.” –Yang; High School Student, IN


Exit Slip

One question going around in my head is…

GEAR UP Alliance 2011 Institute for a College-Going Culture: Drive the dream The Power of Academic...

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