Discussing Science Strategies
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Talk Moves Classroom Examples
https://www.teachingchannel.org/video/student-participation-strategy The Big List of Classroom Discussion Strategies
https://www.cultofpedagogy.com/speaking-listening-techniques/ |
Reading Science Strategies
Anticipation Guide are useful for activating students' prior knowledge about science concepts and focusing students' attention on key content in a text.
Select an appropriate grade level text, and pick 4 to 8 salient concepts in it. Formulate statements about each of these concepts, some true and some false, and list the statements down the left side of a table. Before students read the text, have them decide whether they think each statement is true or false. Then after students read the text, have them reassess which statements in the anticipation guide are true and false, noting evidence from the text.
https://player.vimeo.com/video/135410772
Source: Strategic Education Research Partnership serpinstitute.org
Select an appropriate grade level text, and pick 4 to 8 salient concepts in it. Formulate statements about each of these concepts, some true and some false, and list the statements down the left side of a table. Before students read the text, have them decide whether they think each statement is true or false. Then after students read the text, have them reassess which statements in the anticipation guide are true and false, noting evidence from the text.
https://player.vimeo.com/video/135410772
Source: Strategic Education Research Partnership serpinstitute.org
Argument lines are a tool for improving discussion of a scientific question with two plausible answers. The two answers are posted at opposite ends of the room, and students line up between them, standing close to one answer if they believe it’s correct, or in the middle if they aren’t sure.
The teacher can then prompt adjacent students to talk with each other, explain and justify their positioning, and redistribute themselves along the line if their ideas have changed. The teacher can also expand these discussions to the whole class, asking students to explain and justify where they are standing individually (“explain why you are standing close to Choice B, but not all the way there”) and relative to each other (“explain why you are close to Choice B, but not as close as your classmate who just spoke”). As discussion continues, students can keep re-positioning themselves on the argument line to reflect their changing views.
Source: Strategic Education Research Partnership serpinstitute.org
The teacher can then prompt adjacent students to talk with each other, explain and justify their positioning, and redistribute themselves along the line if their ideas have changed. The teacher can also expand these discussions to the whole class, asking students to explain and justify where they are standing individually (“explain why you are standing close to Choice B, but not all the way there”) and relative to each other (“explain why you are close to Choice B, but not as close as your classmate who just spoke”). As discussion continues, students can keep re-positioning themselves on the argument line to reflect their changing views.
Source: Strategic Education Research Partnership serpinstitute.org
Four Corners
In a typical four corners activity, each corner of a classroom represents a different claim about some topic of discussion, and each student stands in the corner that corresponds most closely to his or her opinion. There don't have to be exactly four claims— as long as students can form groups in the classroom and each position is distinct.
Once students have taken their initial positions, each group should discuss the evidence and reasoning supporting their claim. Then representatives from the different groups can present arguments for their positions to the whole class. The teacher or other students may ask questions to test the rationale for each position. Students should then be allowed to change position based on which arguments they find most persuasive. The class can then repeat this cycle of discussion, presentation, and re-positioning.
As with the similar argument lines activity, the four corners activity works best when there are multiple plausible claims to be made about a topic. Rather than getting the whole class to agree on one "best" answer, the goal is to help students listen to each other, be able to explain fairly both those ideas they agree with and those they disagree with, and consider what kinds of evidence and arguments they find most persuasive.
It may be helpful to introduce this activity through non-scientific discussions first. For example, you might have the following claims: "dogs are the best pets," cats are the best pets," "fish are the best pets," and "birds are the best pets."
Source: Strategic Education Research Partnership serpinstitute.org
In a typical four corners activity, each corner of a classroom represents a different claim about some topic of discussion, and each student stands in the corner that corresponds most closely to his or her opinion. There don't have to be exactly four claims— as long as students can form groups in the classroom and each position is distinct.
Once students have taken their initial positions, each group should discuss the evidence and reasoning supporting their claim. Then representatives from the different groups can present arguments for their positions to the whole class. The teacher or other students may ask questions to test the rationale for each position. Students should then be allowed to change position based on which arguments they find most persuasive. The class can then repeat this cycle of discussion, presentation, and re-positioning.
As with the similar argument lines activity, the four corners activity works best when there are multiple plausible claims to be made about a topic. Rather than getting the whole class to agree on one "best" answer, the goal is to help students listen to each other, be able to explain fairly both those ideas they agree with and those they disagree with, and consider what kinds of evidence and arguments they find most persuasive.
It may be helpful to introduce this activity through non-scientific discussions first. For example, you might have the following claims: "dogs are the best pets," cats are the best pets," "fish are the best pets," and "birds are the best pets."
Source: Strategic Education Research Partnership serpinstitute.org