On the Christmas Coach-Couch:
7th December 2012
7th December 2012
Focus question: How can I ensure that ALL students are learning from class discussion?
Ideas:
- Make the point and expected learning objective of the discussion explicit before starting it!
- Set out a question or problem which the discussion seeks to answer.
- Revisit this question at the end of the discussion and evaluate the extent to which the discussion was successful.
- Give independent / paired planning time so that pupils prepare their initial thoughts before the discussion begins.
- Provide prompt cards to each pupil to prompt their contribution, for example:
o Give an opinion / “In my opinion ...”
o Develop the point / “To add to x’s point, I’d suggest that ...”
o Offer a counter-argument / “I disagree because ...”
o Offer an alternative view / “You could also argue that ...”
o Give an example / “For example, when ...”
- Designate a quality-control-role to G&T students who could help steer discussion back to the point.
- Designate note-taking role to the student(s) who let(s) everyone else do the work / talks a lot in discussion but is reluctant to record ideas.
- Give all a framework in which to prepare for and record learning from discussion. Headings might include:
o My initial thoughts / opinion.
o Points raised which support my opinion.
o Points raised which counter my opinion.
o If I had more time, what questions would I like answered?
o After the discussion, how has my understanding developed?
- Pause during discussion to review and evaluate and allow pupils to record learning. Ensure that discussion is balanced with silent, independent reflection and application of learning.
- Use contribution cards: each pupil has a certain number of tokens or cards to “spend” in the discussion.
- For small-group discussion tasks, plan “home” and “away” groups:
o “HOME” groups are friends, people with whom they frequently interact
o “AWAY” groups are differentiated: either grouped by ability or mixed-ability, depending on the task.
- Pupils move out of small group discussion into whole-class discussion with a particular role to play or point to make; this has been agreed by the small group in advance.
- Plan a plenary which requires all students to demonstrate learning and progress made as a result of discussion. For example, pupils record on a post-it / scrap-paper the following and hand it in as a passport to leave the lesson one (or more of the following):
o a main point raised
o something learned that they didn’t know before
o an alternative view or new idea generated
o a question they still want to ask
