Chapter 5: Tom Sawyer, Teaching and Talking

In elementary school, it is not hard to get a third grade class to talk. The hard part comes when asking them to stay focus and keep it an effective discussion about the topic given. For example, let's say third grade is reading Charlotte's Web (great book!) and the discussion question could be something like "Let's talk about Wilbur and Charlotte's relationship. What was so unique about the relationship? How did their relationship grow throughout the book?" It may start off good saying that in the beginning of the story Wilbur thought he was going crazy hearing voices, and by the end of the story they were best friends. Students could even talk about how Charlotte saved Wilbur's life. Then another student can go off on a tangent about when they were on a farm and saw a spider and how they don't like spiders and how the spider was thiiiiiis big and there was a pig on that farm too, and it goes on and on and on. Now, of course I don't let it go that far, but elementary students LOVE to tell stories about their life no matter the topic. They have this magic power that no matter what they can come up with a personal connection and go on and on and on about it. Now flash forward to middle school, I imagine when a teacher ask a questions it's silent! Unless there is a really smart student or a brown-noser that answers everything. We all have those students. So how do we get elementary ages and middle school ages to carry on a deep discussion with each other? I really liked the part in the book where it had ice breakers. In order to have a great discussion, students have to feel comfortable in the class. If they think students are going to snicker at their responses then they are not going to answer any question! It is vital as a teacher to create an environment where all students feel comfortable and safe. This is easier said than done! Just like all teachers have brown-nosers, we also have those stinkers that can be mean to students know matter what! The poem activity was great! It got the students thinking about the topic before the topic was even given. I use this type of activity frequently when partnering up students. I give students cards where one has multiplication facts and one has the product. I love the idea to use this in reading as well with passages or poems. It gets the students talking with each other before it is time for the class discussion. Also, I LOVE the post it note ideas. I am obsessed with having the students use post it notes. This year we created reader's notebooks that students used when reading silently. They had a list of prompts to use, but throughout the book they would use their post it's for questions, connections, interesting parts, or confusing words. I could transfer this idea to help me with discussion of a class text. Having students think first of their questions will create a better discussion. The students don't have to think on their feet instead it is right in front of them. I totally understand what the book is saying when you will be frustrated with the questions your students are coming up with at first. I remember first starting the post its and wanted to rip my hair out. I expected more from my kids, but instead I got questions like "What was the boy's name?" and by the end of the year I had questions like "How did the character change throughout the story?" It is amazing to see that type of growth! In reality, students want to have discussions with each other. It just takes time to train students what a great discussion looks like. When you see students start getting it, it is a great feeling!