He Said, She

Said
Encouraging Critical Thinking Through
Discussion

Emily Hawe (ehawe@obenschools.org)

7th Grade English Teacher, Oyster Bay
High School
Nicole Schwartz (
nschwartz@obenschools.org)
10th Grade English Teacher, Oyster Bay

Essential Questions
Why are discussions important in the
English classroom and what does an
effective discussion look like?
How can we use discussions to meet ALL
Common Core State Standards?
How can we use discussions to develop
students academic conversation skills?
How does a Socratic Circle Discussion work?

Why are discussions

important?
You can never attain freedom from stage-fright
by reading a treatise. A book may give you
excellent suggestions on how best to conduct
yourself in the water, but sooner or later you
must get wet, perhaps even strangle and be "half
scared to death." There are a great many
"wetless" bathing suits worn at the seashore, but
no one ever learns to swim in them. To plunge is
the only way.
Dale Breckenridge Carnegie, The
Art of Public Speaking

The Common Core

State Standards
4 Strands:

Reading
Writing
Speaking and Listening
Language

College and Career Readiness

Anchor Standards for Speaking
and Listening

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.CCRA.SL.1 Prepare
for and participate effectively in a
range of conversations and
collaborations with diverse partners,
building on others ideas and
expressing their own clearly and
persuasively.

What discussions are

NOT

Turn and Talk

How often do you include opportunities
for authentic student-centered
discussion in your lessons?
What gets in the way of having more
student-centered discussions in your
classroom?

Using Discussion to
Meet ALL Standards
You can use discussions to teach other
standards in addition to the speaking
and listening standards
Why use discussion?

Student engagement
Differentiated
Collaborative learning
Quick form of assessment
Flexible

The Main Ingredient

The main ingredient for a strong
discussion is a strong.

Aligning Discussion
Questions to
Standards
Standard: CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.7.3
Analyze how particular elements of a
story or drama interact (e.g., how setting
shapes the characters or plot).

Discussion Question: How does the

setting of The Giver impact Jonass
character? How does Jonass view of the
community shift as the novel
progresses?

Aligning Discussion
Questions to
Standards
Standard: CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.7.2
Determine a theme or central idea of a
text and analyze its development over
the course of the text; provide an
objective summary of the text.
Discussion Question: How does the
author develop the theme in Born of
Man and Woman through character
actions?

Aligning Discussion
Questions to
Standards
Standard: CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.9-10.7
Analyze the representation of a subject
or a key scene in two different artistic
mediums, including what is emphasized
or absent in each treatment
Discussion Question: What do Antonys
rhetorical strategies in Caesars funeral
oration reveal about his level of
morality? How is he similar/dissimilar to
Cassius? Who is the better man?

Aligning Discussion
Questions to
Standards

Standard: CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.9-10.3 Analyze how

the author unfolds an analysis or series of ideas or
events, including the order in which the points are
made, how they are introduced and developed, and
the connections that are drawn between them.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.9-10.5 Analyze in detail how an
authors ideas or claims are developed and refined
by particular sentences, paragraphs, or larger
portions of a text (e.g., a section or chapter).
Discussion Question: What is President Obamas
message in his first Inaugural Speech and how does
he convey his message? Who is his target audience?

Your Turn!
Read This is How I Remember It by
Betsy Kemper on page 3 in your packet
Pick a standard from the second page
in your packet to focus on.
Create a discussion question that
aligns to that standard.

Discussions Come In
Many Shapes and
Sizes
Book Clubs and Literature Circles
Silent Conversations
Turn and Talk
Debate
Student-generated questions
Online Discussions
Small Group or Partner Discussions
Whole Class Discussions
Fishbowl Discussions
Socratic Circles

Its Not Enough to

Just Say, DISCUSS!
We have to explicitly teach and
scaffold the discussion skills we want
to see our students demonstrate
Academic Conversations: Classroom
Talk That Fosters Critical Thinking and
Content Understandings by Jeff Zwiers
and Marie Crawford

Core Academic
Conversation Skills

From Academic Conversations: Classroom Talk That Fosters Critical

Thinking and Content Understanding by Jeff Zwiers and Marie

Ideas for Teaching

Discussion Skills
Introduce one new discussion skill for
each discussion
Students practice skill, self-assess, and
receive feedback from peer or teacher

Teach discussion skills in isolation

Do dogs or cats make better pets?

Charts or handheld reference cards

with sentence starters for each
discussion skill

How To B e A Good B ook C lub M ember

I sit up straight and as
close as possible to my
group members.
I speak quietly
so only my
group can hear
me. I dont talk
to other groups.

I always read to
the page number
my group agreed
on. I dont read
ahead either!

I make eye contact with

my group members and
smile and nod to
encourage them.

I have my book and

notes with me and I
refer to them during
the discussion.

I stay on topic
and remind
my group
members to
do the same.

I encourage
everyone to
participate and
treat everyone
with respect.

What are Socratic

Circle Discussions?
Highly motivating form of intellectual and
scholarly discourse.

Students create a deeper understanding of

a text through listening to other students
perspectives and building upon this new
knowledge.

Socratic Circle
Discussions
Overview

Divide the students into an inner and an outer circle

The inner circle is given a question to discuss for a
set amount of time.
While the inner circle discusses, the members of
the outer circle silently observe and record
feedback.
After the discussion time is up, the inner circle goes
silent and the outer circle members give
constructive criticism.
The inner and outer circles then switch places.

Preparation for a Socratic

Circle Discussion
Give students specific questions ahead of
time to prepare responses with textual
evidence.
Ask an opening question and then remain
silent during the inner circle participants
span of discussion.
The teacher will take part in the feedback
portion of discussion.

The Text
A seminar text can be drawn from any
and all disciplines.

The text can range from a novel, short

text, poem, muliti-media, photograph,
etc.

The Question
An effective opening question is open-ended and
leads participants back to the text as they
speculate, evaluate, define, and clarify the issues
involved

Responses to the opening question generate new

questions

The line of inquiry evolves on the spot rather than

being predetermined by the leader.

Differentiation
A) Split your class into heterogeneous
groups and provide multiple levels of
questioning to meet all students needs.

B) Split your class into homogeneous

groups and specify opening questions
based on the ability levels.

Role of the Inner

Circle
Use their preparation sheets and text to
share their opinions.

Listen actively and politely

Invite the quiet students in conversation

Partake in dialogue, rather than debate!

Dialogue is not
Debate!
Dialogue:
Is collaborative
One listens to find common ground
Enlarges points of view

Debate:
Is oppositional
One listens to counter arguments
Affirms participants points of view

Role of the Outer

Circle
Students observe the active participants for:

New ideas
Positive comments
Discussion highlights
Conversation continuers
Questions posed
References to the text
Positive/Negative behavior
Students must remain silent until the inner circles span of
discussion time is up.

Provide constructive criticism and helpful

feedback to individuals and the group as a
whole

Outer Circle
Feedback Options
Provide students with specific roles to observe
and listen for. Hold students accountable for their
role and have them share feedback after inner
circle session.

Provide each student on the outer circle one

classmate to observe from the inner circle.
Students complete a feedback form based on:
Analysis and Reasoning skills; Discussion skills;
Civility. The feedback form is discussed and given
to the inner circle student as immediate
feedback.

By the end of a Socratic

Circle
Each group has had the opportunity to
participate in the outer circle and the inner
circle.
Students minds have opened to new ideas
about a text and have a deeper understanding
about the topic.
Students complete a Reflective piece in which
they write about a new insight they have
discovered through Socratic dialogue, and
provide textual evidence that fully supports this
new idea.

Socratic Circle
Question
How does the structure of the
story reflect the narrators view of
the events and his/her mother?
How does the author characterize the
mother through details and dialogue?
What is the authors intended effect
and what literary elements does she
use to convey this?

How does the structure of the story reflect

the narrators view of the events and his/her
mother?
This
Is How I Remember It
by Betsy Kemper

Watching Joey pop the red berries into his mouth like Ju-Ju Bees
and Mags only licking them at first, then chewing, so both of their
smiles look bloody and I laugh though I dont eat even one...then
suddenly our moms are all around us (although mine doesnt
panic until she looks at the others and screams along with them
things like dammit did you eat these? And shakes me so my No
sounds like oh-oh- oh and then were being yanked toward the
house, me for once not resisting as my mother scoops me up into
her arms, and inside the moms shove medicine, thick and purple,
down our throats in the bathroom; Joey in the toilet, Mags in the
sink, me staring at the hair in the tub drain as my mom pushed
my head down and there is red vomit everywhere, splashing on
the mirror and powder-blue rugs, everywhere except the tub
where mine is coming out yellow, the color of corn muffins from
lunch, not a speck of red, I told you, I want to scream and then it
is over and I turn to my mother for a touch or a stroke on the