Finding 2: Teachers can be purposeful in creating discussion that "makes thinking visible". If teachers affect the way students talk about reading, then they will impact the way students think about reading.
As Vacca et al (2011) state, "Discussion allows students to respond to text, build concepts, clarify meaning, explore issues, share perspectives, and refine thinking" (p. 161). The value of discussion in an ELA class not only lies in its ability to make students better speakers (an important real-world skill), but a well-facilitated discussion also will make students better readers and writers. Furthermore, strong discussion engages students in texts and in critical thinking.
I have learned that great ELA teachers constantly ask "Why". They ask students to go back to the text. They encourage multiple answers and not just a single correct one. They step out of the conversation and allow students to discuss among themselves. They push students to share their thinking and that process of coming to an answer with others.
Book clubs and literature circles are a wonderful way to have students collaborating and critically reading and talking about text. Each Friday when my students read the novel The Outsiders, they engaged in a literature circle discussion in which they each prepared a role and discussed important themes in the book. Then, they evaluated themselves and their group members. Students looked forward to this discussion every Friday and were able to enjoy this book better, and understand it more deeply, because they could meaningfully discuss their reactions and thoughts with peers regularly.
I have learned that great ELA teachers constantly ask "Why". They ask students to go back to the text. They encourage multiple answers and not just a single correct one. They step out of the conversation and allow students to discuss among themselves. They push students to share their thinking and that process of coming to an answer with others.
Book clubs and literature circles are a wonderful way to have students collaborating and critically reading and talking about text. Each Friday when my students read the novel The Outsiders, they engaged in a literature circle discussion in which they each prepared a role and discussed important themes in the book. Then, they evaluated themselves and their group members. Students looked forward to this discussion every Friday and were able to enjoy this book better, and understand it more deeply, because they could meaningfully discuss their reactions and thoughts with peers regularly.
During my Teaching Young Adult Literature class, I realized that I wanted to push myself even further by truly combining the reading with the discussion in groups. For my final project in this class, I created a unit that allows students to engage in book clubs in which they read and discuss a novel together daily. I was able to teach this unit as a continuation of the themes studied in The Outsiders. This book club unit was extremely successful, and I repeated it again this year with my 8th graders.