1. Enhance classroom discourse through effective questioning with PLC support
Engage students to work with teachers to improve classroom discourse
Enhance classroom discourse through effective questioning with PLC support
Engage students to work with teachers to improve classroom discourse.

2. Agree on 1 or 2 strategies per table to share with the whole group.
Return to your Discourse Primer- finish discussing Ideas 1, 2, 6, and 3.
Individually commit to strategies for enhancing discourse in your own classroom next fall.
Agree on 1 or 2 strategies per table to share with the whole group.
Return to your Discourse Primer- finish discussing Ideas 1, 2, 6, and 3.
Agree on 1 or 2 strategies per table to share with the whole group.

3. To be proficient in science, students must
know, use, and interpret scientific explanations of the natural world
generate and evaluate scientific evidence and explanations
understand the nature and development of scientific knowledge; and
participate productively in scientific practices and discourse

4. The Role of Talk
Children need time to talk, verbally or in writing, yet when time gets short, talk is what is pushed out of the curriculum first. But, for many of us, it is talk that leads to understanding and helps us process what we are learning.
Patricia Bloehm
Correspondence Journals

5. Characteristics of Effective Whole Group Discussions
The students are seated in a circle facing one another.
There is a set of explicit norms and expectations, posted in view of all.
There is a natural flow to the conversation with a good deal of student to student interaction.
Many students participate: the conversation is not dominated by a single student or by the teacher.
The conversation is focused: students linger on a particular idea and make connections to one another’s ideas.

6. The arrangement of the physical space can affect the quality of discussions.
The circle fosters and intimacy and accountability to the group that cannot be achieved when students are spread throughout the classroom.
When teachers join the circle, it becomes easier for them to facilitate rather than dominate the discussion.

7. Classroom Conversation Maps

8. Classroom Conversation Maps

9. Individually commit to strategies for enhancing discourse in your own classroom next fall and share with PLC on Friday.
How will your PLC support you as you embed these ideas of discourse into your classroom practice?
How will your PLC support you as you embed these ideas of discourse into your classroom practice?

10. Note examples of effective discourse strategies during the content immersion and consider how to implement them in your own classroom in the fall.
Practice your discourse moves on your table mates as you proceed through the content immersion.
Note examples of effective discourse strategies and consider how to implement them in your own classroom in the fall.