My major goal for this year is to create an environment for higher-level discussion in the classroom.
As a group, the 7th graders I work with are very willing to participate and answer questions. However, I struggle with asking higher-level questions and fostering genuine discussion. Students are willing to raise their hands to share journal responses, for example, but I don’t think those questions are necessarily as deep as they could be. When discussion is the focus for a small group, students take turns, but often don’t build on each other’s responses further than “I agree.” In the past, I have tried different discussion protocols with varying degrees of success.
Do you have any suggestions for encouraging meaningful discussion at the middle school/junior high level? Has there been a certain protocol that has worked well for you?
What has worked best from me is sharing personal examples. It provides an addeded level of comfort in which students feel safer and more likely to expand upon there answers and perhaps there comfort zone. Plus, when it does happen I go above and beyond to reward their participation. I also preface those questions by announcing that it's a higher order thinking question and they take it on as a challenge. Hope this helps;)
ReplyDeleteMr. D! Thanks for the tips!
ReplyDeleteI usually find that you had to build up the details first before you ask the big question.
I had an essential question about how geographic features influence the settlement of human populations. We brainstormed in small groups on different geographic features, then on what human population means, then I asked them to write an exit ticket. The next day, we discussed it as a class and a number of students were ready to discuss a big concept! Let them reflect (like you do in journals, I assume) and then they should be ready to share.
And it all comes back to the age. It's tough at 12 to be deep.
One thing I have done more this year is faciliating "forced opinion" discussions. (I just made up the name of that right now. ha). What I have done is take a topic that has multiple opinions, viewpoints and assign the students a perspective. Meaning they have to contribute to the discussion in a way that supports the viewpoint I assigned them. Often times this is drastically different what they personally believe. What I have found is that it gets the kids engaged in a way that requires them to do some more higher level thinking because they are having to put themselves in the perspective of someone else. Also, it tends to make the more shy kids more comfortable, because they are not sharing their own opinion right away. A lot of times feels less threatening to students. I also end the discussions with 15 minutes or so to now "switch" to your own opinion. They tend to get excited that now they can come out of character and discuss what they actually think.
ReplyDelete