Re: peers working together -- class discussions

["Lori Davis" <loridavis@deerfieldschools.us>]

I'm glad to be receiving middle-lit postings again, although I must be
missing some because I'm getting things that people are responding to but
sometimes never seeing the original post.  It's weird.

Anyway, with discussions, my students need A LOT of modeling. First we
brainstorm what a group on task looks like and sounds like.  Then I have
video tape of some good student discussions, which I show and we discuss
what behaviors contributed to the discussion?  What didn't?  (If you don't
have this, perhaps you and other staff could put one together or role
play.)  Then I take some volunteers, and they fishbowl a discussion, with us
stopping periodically to discuss the positives and negatives.  It takes a
lot of class time, but by laying the groundwork, I've had much more success.

Lori