Direct Instruction
The learning intention for this lesson was:
To use the 6 ground rules for talk to have learning discussions in reading.
To actively play our part in a group discussion about a text.
The video shows the group meeting with me and having a discussion about a text using the Ground Rules for Talk as they discuss. The discussion is gamified to increase child engagement. At various moments I stop the discussion to refocus the children and provide feedback and feedforward.
Reflection
The children did well. It’s hard to tell from the video but every child did participate in the group discussion and collectively managed to use the 6 ground rules. The children were great at inviting others to share and though initially it seemed disingenuous, eventually they were asking in a more meaningful way. As the children mentioned, they struggled to ask questions of each other. The other area of development is sharing their reasoning & using evidence from the text to justify their thinking. I was really proud of how they managed to look at both sides of the argument. This was a surprise to me. Overall I was happy with how I facilitated the discussion. It was challenging to decide what to focus on.
Next Steps
Work with children to ask questions of each other, particularly when something new has been introduced by someone.
Work with children to ensure they use the text to justify their thinking
