The classroom talk that takes place at my
placement is recitation base. The
teacher will read a story with the children and ask implicit and explicit
questions to get them thinking about the book. Although this encourages the children to talk
and share their ideas, there are many pitfalls to this method and instruction
that limits their overall comprehension of the story. Unequal participation is
a main limitation that I notice in my classroom. My teacher calls on student volunteers to answer
the question. This is an issue because it
is normally the same handful of students who are volunteering to participate. This allows students to get in the habit of
thinking that they can zone off and not pay attention because they will not be
called on. The students in my class get
easily distracted and I notice them fighting and focusing on other tasks rather
than paying attention to the story being read.
I notice
that there are a handful of students who don’t ever participate during literacy
discussions. One student in particular,
who has an IEP plan, will sit through our literacy readings and recitations but
have no comprehension of what was just read to him. The reading discussed multiple methods that
can scaffold response-centered talk to take place in the classroom. In order to promote responses from students
my mentor teacher could use the Popsicle stick method to evenly distribute student’s
chance to participate. This will support
students in thinking about their response to the questions ahead of time, in
anticipation of them being called on. Resources
such as Popsicle sticks and small white boards have the potential to promote a
more in-depth discussion by allowing for more students response in the
classroom. I know my mentor teacher has
enough white boards available for the students to use. Students could use white boards to write out
their response ahead of time, allowing them to think for themselves before
sharing with the class.
One way to scaffold student’s comprehension during
a story would be to provide individuals who need extra support with their own
book to have in front of them as the teacher reads to the class. This will help them follow along as the
teacher reads to the whole class and not get as easily distracted by other
things in the classroom.
I agree that my classroom is pretty much all teacher-centered, recitations, especially in literacy. The only books that I see the kids ever reading in literacy are short stories out of the provided textbook. The kids sit on the floor with their books all around the teacher, who is the "star of the show" on her chair.
ReplyDeleteShe directs the reading, and she directs a recitation after the reading, asking comprehension questions to students that she think zoned out. And it is true, many of the students do zone out. This time isn't meaningful to them, and they are bored and scrunched up sitting on the floor.
I think that recitations do have a place in the classroom, but sparingly. When a teacher wants to gauge comprehension or is giving a lesson that is less interactive and more informational, I agree with Mira that Popsicle sticks are a good idea. That way, all students are engaged because they don't know when they will be called on and they all have a chance of being called on.
To help foster discussion and student-centered talk, I think the students in my classroom need to learn the fundamentals of how to do this, because they never are given opportunities to talk to each other. The only time they work together is when they do centers, which consist of filling out different worksheets and working together to get the right answers. This is not discussion.
Introducing new literature into the classroom that is engaging and controversial could be a good start. The kids do have opinions and I think engaging them in something meaningful and relevant would spark discussions. Instead of everyone crowding around the teacher, I think a circle would be more conducive to discussion.
This is something that I want to try with them during the literacy lesson that I teach, but I know that I will have to teach them the structure of how discussions go, since they are not familiar. I am excited to see how they will respond.
My classroom is also mostly recitation based using I-R-E. I too see that the same kids are being called on more than others because of their eagerness to raise their hand. I used popsicle sticks in my science lesson last semester and gave them to my MT, she has been using them a little bit and says they are working well. I also think the book's suggestion of white boards are effective. My MT allowed me to teach a small math lesson and I brought those out. All children responded to the questions I asked because they were required to hold up their answer. However, it is easy for a child to look onto another student's board.
ReplyDeleteDuring any kind of recitation the children have in my classroom are in rows (somewhat) and are all facing forward. As Weinstein et all discussed students should be arranged so they can make eye contact. I think having the students sit in a circle would automatically create more of a discussion feel and possibly promote more discussions.
I also agree the response-centered should be implemented into the books my classroom reads. Because I am in a Kindergarten classroom I kept thinking that it would be harder to have discussions because of their young age and short attention span. While it would be harder it is greatly beneficial. The classroom mentioned in the McGee article was in first grade and I was impressed on how they were able to dig into the interpretive question that the teacher proposed. I know there are a lot of students in my classroom with "big ideas" so I think offering discussions where they can take the lead or dig deeper rather than answering in a short response would be very beneficial to them. To fix the problem of only the same children participating my MT could use the strategies that the teacher used in the article. For example, she could say "What do you think (Sam)."
As Sam stated I will definitely try a discussion in my classroom for my ELA lesson!
My teacher is really good in the sense that he makes classroom talk as interactive and as student based as possible. He knows that if he is not involving all students in a discussion, then many of the students will not be engaged in what is going on. One way in which he allows students to participate is that he asks for their opinions, and reminds them that it is okay to disagree with their classmates, as long as they do it in a respectful way. I think that by having students practice discussions in this way, they become more aware of what their classmates are saying and are able to get a better grasp on the main idea of the discussion.
ReplyDeleteMira, I agree with you in that I think using popsicle sticks could be very beneficial for promoting student involvement in discussion. I think it will help students remember to stay focused and pay attention to what their classmates are saying. I also like your idea of having students think about their own answers and responses individually before being asked to share them out loud. This gives students time to collect their thoughts and also takes off some the immediate pressure of having to sort through their thoughts in front of the class. I think these are two things that I will promote in my classroom as well.
One idea that I really loved from the Goldenberg article is the weaving metaphor. In the reading, classroom discussions are compared to weaving, in that the teacher weaves together student comments in a way that allows the students to make connections from one comment to another. Also included in the metaphor is that the teacher weaves students' past experiences with new knowledge. Overall, although particular comments and ideas can be identified throughout the conversation, as a whole the discussion is smooth and builds one whole cohesive picture.