Chapter Eight In Tompkins

Did you like chapter eight?? I did very much. It gave me a lot of great ideas of how to develop and keep discussions in the classroom.

The topic of conversations did not intrigue me that much because that is kind of a basic tool in the classroom, although it is very important and teachers are encouraged to use it. Small group conversations are beneficial especially to discuss the topic or the book they are reading, but it also allows students to learn how to begin a conversation with a group, how to continue it, and how to end it. It also allows them to learn how to deal with problems or issues that arise within the group. A lot of times students don’t agree on something said in the group and that issue becomes the central topic of conversation among the group and then the purpose of meeting is not met. If the students know how to resolve and issue in a small group they will benefit from that and be able to accomplish more. Grand conversations are also a very good technique to use that I liked. It is good to get students used to leading class discussions about a book or topic, with the teacher acting as one of the students and not giving too much feedback. The students also take responsibility for what they learned prior to this grand discussion. They can talk about things not making sense to them, what they think is interesting or not so interesting, personal connections (text-to-self, text-to-text, text-to-world). This is a good way to start running a classroom, in the early elementary years, so students become used to this method that is occasionally used in high school and college. Instructional conversations are similar to grand conversations but they differ a little bit. This type of conversation gives students opportunities for students to talk about the main ideas they are learning in the different units. Participating in these types of conversations, students enhance their academic language proficiency. Teachers have a little bigger of a role in this type than in grand conversations. The teacher is a participant just like the students but they clarify misconceptions, ask questions, and provide instructions. This method is more teacher lead than the other one. Students provide hypothesis, ask questions, give information, and clarify ideas of their classmates.

Were you surprised at all about the part of the chapter, “Talk as a Learning Tool??” I thought it was very interesting. It wasn’t a surprise that the most common type of question is literal questions. Literal questions require simple recall, and they don’t require students to analyze, interpret, evaluate, and offer opinions, which are the skills they need to have. More in depth questions allow them to analyze and use those skills. Teachers mostly ask and use critical and/or inferential questions, which allow students to think a lot and analyze and interpret. The IRF cycle is a good system to use with the students. The I stands for Initiate, which is when the teacher asks a question, the R stands for Response, which is when the student answers the question, and the F stands for Feedback which is when the teacher responds to the students answer. This cycle is used for assessment a lot of the time. Teachers can assess students through this cycle because it shows whether they understand the material and/or the question being asked by the teacher. K-W-L chart is a very commonly used way to activate students prior knowledge and to build knowledge during units. The letter K stands for “What we know”, the letter W stands for “What we want to know”, and the letter L stands for “What we learned.” This is a good resource to use before the class does a unit or reads a book about a specific topic, but sometimes it is over used, and used for everything. I like the idea but Im not a big fan of it, to use more than once or twice. Oral Reports and Debates are good ways to have students talk and raise their confidence levels by speaking in class. Interviews allow for students to refine questioning skills, and use oral and written language for authentic purposes. The hot seat is a very neat idea that I would love to use because it gives students the opportunity to play the role, which includes a little bit of drama, and they get to answer their classmates questions. Debates allow students to use oral language to persuade their classmates, which is a very good skill for them to learn.

Drama is a huge part of education, and should be integrated into the curriculum, and students really enjoy it because they get to let loose. Do you agree?? Improvisation is very neat for students to participate in, where the teacher narrates or gives them a topic or a scene and they are in the role of that character and they act that character or scene out without talking, only using movements. Students find this very fun and entertaining, but they also learn from it, which is important. Process Drama was invented by Dorothy Heathcote and it helps and allows students to explore stories they’re reading, social studies topics, and current events. That is a very creative way to integrate drama into the curriculum for social studies, reading, or current events, or anything else that it would fit in to. Puppetry, Theatrical Productions, and Script Writing, and producing Video Scripts are all different and interesting ways to incorporate drama into the curriculum that you should consider doing with your class.

Do you like these ideas?? Let me know what you would incorportat and use in your classroom!!