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Facilitating Meaningful Discussion Groups in the Primary Grades
Author(s) -
Moses Lindsey,
Ogden Meridith,
Beth Kelly Laura
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
the reading teacher
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.642
H-Index - 50
eISSN - 1936-2714
pISSN - 0034-0561
DOI - 10.1002/trtr.1392
Subject(s) - dialog box , psychology , active listening , class (philosophy) , mathematics education , critical thinking , pedagogy , discussion group , social studies , communication , computer science , world wide web , artificial intelligence
Abstract This Teaching Tips describes a yearlong process of facilitating meaningful discussion groups about literature with first‐grade students in an urban Title I school. At the beginning of the year, the teacher provided explicit instruction in speaking and listening skills to support students with the social skills needed for thoughtful discussion. She established whole‐group discussions as a forum for sharing thinking and new knowledge, engaging in dialog about books, and recommending books to friends. Building on this foundation, the class moved to small‐group discussions. The article details three different types of discussion groups: informational texts and sharing learning; Mo Willems author study and sharing responses to humor; and Jon Klassen author study and sharing inferences supported by textual evidence. This article shares how first grade students took up discussion opportunities to engage in critical thinking and dialog about books.