TALKING IT UP

Strategies to Enhance Student Discussion in All Subject Areas

THE SUN GOES DOWN ON SUMMER

I come to the water one last time as the sun goes down on summer.It's going; I can feel it slip away, and it leaves a cold, empty spot.A hole in my warm memories of endless golden days and dreams as ripe aswatermelons.I'd give the world to make the summer stay. The water is calm around me.It's a warm, silent sea of thought dyed in the rich blues of night and memory.Why can't things just stay the way they are?Instead, the days rush headlong into change and I feel like nothing's ever going to be the same. Soon school will start again. And all the things I thought I'd left behind will come back, and it won't be gentle water I'll be swimming in---It'll be noise and people and schedules and passes and teachers telling everyone what to do.One more year of homework, tests and grades. Of daily popularity contests and pressure-cooker competition and heaps of frustration. The first day is the worst. Not knowing who your friends are, or what's changed since last year. Trying to pick it up where you left off. I'll look real hard for a last-year's friend to get me from one scrambled class to another, through halls crawling with people.

Read from your handout

QUESTIONS

What are the themes in the poem that emerge?

Read the second stanza. Is the poet really talking about water?

What does the poet mean when he writes, “I wonder if I’ll fit in”?

What does this poem say to you? Make you think?

DEBRIEF

Let’s talk about the discussion we just had about “The Sun Goes Down on Summer”.

What worked? What would you like to be different?

DISCUSSION IN OUR CLASSROOMS

Let’s view an example:

Lively Classroom Discussion Example

What are your experiences with discussion in your classroom?

STRATEGIES FOR ENGAGING DISCUSSION Discussion Web Ticket to Talk (entry and exit tickets) Fishbowl Discussions Discussion Collage ThinkPairShare Sticky Note Discussions

DISCUSSION WEB

Unhealthy School Lunches Not Making the GradeProcessed foods that are high in fat, sugar, and salt have become a mainstay of lunches in schools across America and the results are in — experts say these unhealthy school lunches are a contributing factor to the childhood obesity epidemic. A movement is afoot to bring change to school lunch programs across the country.

Read article and discuss

Discussion Web Question• Should schools limit

students’ choices to healthy foods?

• Should schools invest in more costly healthy meals?

TICKET TO TALK & FISHBOWL

The Start of the Civil Rights Movement in the U.S.

The Civil Rights Movement in the United States has been a long, primarily nonviolent struggle to bring full civil rights and equality under the law to primarily African American citizens of United States. There have been many movements on behalf of other groups in the U.S. over time, but the term is often used to refer to the struggles between 1955 and 1968 to end discrimination against African-Americans and to end racial segregation, especially in the U.S. South.

Read article and look at photos

On your note card, write down one or two questions or thoughts you’d like to discuss

THINK PAIR SHARE

ENGAGED CLASSROOM DISCUSSION OR…..

We can have engaged and active discussions or we can rely on traditions of teacher led discussions.

Video Clip

PASSIVE VS. ACTIVE DISCUSSION

Active Discussion Students are active

participants and have their own talk time

Emphasis on real conversations, real questions, not pseudo-questions

Draw on multiple sources of information

Focus on learning concepts, principles, & skills (big ideas)

Passive Discussions Are typically teacher led

and teacher centered Emphasis on verbal

lectures Teacher is “verbal”

textbook Focus on “mugs and

jugs” or transmitting knowledge (facts)

QUESTIONS ???

FOR MORE INFORMATION

Bruce Taylor, Ph.D. Center for Adolescent Literacies

bruce.taylor@uncc.edu

Resourcesliteracy.uncc.edu

literacyuncc.pbworks.com