Discussion


 * Importance **
 * Discussion is not a lecture!
 * Discussion asks students to process information in new ways
 * Apply it
 * Evaluate it
 * Comparing
 * Discussions will help with participation
 * Discussions will help with retention of information


 * Encourage Participation **
 * Shaping the environment
 * arrange the room to enhance discussion
 * make your expectations CLEAR
 * Safe environment
 * Participation should be expected
 * students should feel comfortable
 * Listening and Responding
 * use verbal and nonverbal cues to encourage participation
 * use WAIT TIME!
 * limit teacher comments


 * Roles **
 * Roles are specific jobs given to students that will direct and to some degree control conversation
 * The roles encourage students to focus on different cognitive perspectives related to their reading and draw on different intelligences.


 * Example of Roles **
 * Discussion Director
 * Passage Picker
 * Vocabulary Virtuoso
 * Summarizer
 * Artful Artist (visualization)
 * Connector (making connections)
 * Literary Mastermind (literary techniques)


 * Prepare Students **
 * Model
 * Show students how to have a discussion
 * Discuss
 * Brainstorm lists of qualities of "good" and "poor" group participants, listeners, and discussion etiquette
 * Practice
 * using a picture book have students practice - a dress rehearsal of sort
 * Debrief
 * have students reflect on what went well and what did not go well.


 * Odds & Ends **
 * Explain each role
 * Teach how to write "thick questions"
 * Show how to choose appropriate passages
 * Model how to summarize a chapter
 * Organize sutdents (papers, folders, assignments)
 * Be clear with assessment procedures