So now the student who had arrived at that station in the first rotation was left to explain to the new arrival. If you could only eat one fruit forever — what fruit would it be? It looked a lot like those chat rooms from back in the day, basically a blank screen where people would contribute a few lines of text, the lines stacking up one after the other, no other bells or whistles. Who can go the whole dinner without blinking? The teacher poses a question to the whole group and pairs discuss their responses with each other. After each person has had a chance to share their ideas, the pair joins another pair, creating a group of four. Asking open-ended questions is a great way to get information from and bond with your children.
Do you want to be popular? My juniors held focused, academic conversations lasting 15-25 minutes with nobody of task, and no input from me. Good open-ended questions encourage more conversation than closed questions, which can be answered by a simple yes or no. This sounds good as an aspiring teacher, but opinions from experienced teachers as to whether you think this may work would be very appreciated! During the course of the class there was a lot of discussion and interaction taking place between the pairs. Ongoing Discussion Strategies Whereas the other formats in this list have a distinct shape—specific activities you do with students—the strategies in this section are more like plug-ins, working discussion into other instructional activities and improving the quality and reach of existing conversations. Laura's advice on empathizing with your child, is that it does dissipate the conflict. One suggestion: discussion feels less ephemeral if some kind of record of it is kept on the board or screen. So develop your language skills especially.
Parents always wish to make their kids speaks up before an audience or a group of people. Hi Kenzie and Jennifer, I first wanted to say how much I appreciated both of you contributing certain teaching strategies that have worked for you in the past as alternatives to typical lecture style instruction. I planned a lesson with a hybrid of the Gallery Walk and Concentric Circles. Do you think there is enough money in the world for everyone to have enough? Do you think you could go an entire day without talking? How do you act when your feelings are hurt? Is anyone at school talking about it? Why do you think that? If you force students to stand and deliver, it can lead to feelings of embarrassment, shame and unnecessary discomfort. But when teachers began contacting me recently asking for a more comprehensive list, I knew it was time to do some serious research. We give our children an amazing gift by when they talk to us.
Affinity mapping and a gallery walk would work as well. Three of these groups are assigned to represent specific points of view. Every one of these discussion strategies is exemplary! Would you ever get a tattoo? She lives on top of a beautiful mountain with her family, and one cuddly dog. What questions will you ask? Group discussion topics, ideas and themes — small and large groups. Now that our kids are grown, we still use some variation of this with our friends - it is amazing how much conversation it starts and how much you learn about your friends.
Who in your class is a really good friend to others? Do you feel that way, or is it different for you? What are three things that you are grateful for today? Student A can go to student C and repeat the process. Do you believe in God? To make a good debate, it is important to keep the audience who get involved and get final decision. What would, in your opinion, be the best strategy for engaging a class of that size in meaningful discussion? Another idea is to have kids use building blocks or legos to represent an idea and then talk it out to another group. In your town, do you have more sunny days or more rainy days? How many of the kids at school swear? Reviewing simple safety rules help a child feel in control rather than frightened. Older children will share these concerns but have more specific questions. If you could turn someone nice — who would it be? How are you like them? You might be surprised what they still think, even after being told. If you could turn one room of your house into a giant trampoline which one would it be? Thanks again for always providing great resources Jen! If you could be any age — what age would you want to be? A couple people here mentioned online courses.
Discussions are the foundation of engaged, dynamic, inquiry-based classrooms. Having conversations about topics such as relationships, values, and spirituality can be helpful for your child and strengthen your relationship with them at the same time. Here is a list of 30 questions, some silly, some serious that encourage conversations between parents and children. These type of questions are great not only for building relationships with your children, they are also great for teaching values and getting children to evaluate their own actions against their own desires and values. If you design your own playground, what kinds of things would you want to play on? If you had to pick only one — would you want to be a great singer or a great dancer? Some questions are very straight forward and some might need a little more explaining for the youngest at your table. Abstract More abstract discussion topics for a group are things that cannot be touched, not be easily defined or formulated. Do you have to use your eraser a lot at school? What do you think I like most about you? If you had to change places with your mom or dad — who would you pick to be? Discussion is meant to happen naturally and students do not need to raise their hands to speak.
This from the website Facing History and Ourselves provides a list of appropriate questions, plus more information about how to prepare for a seminar. Make up a song about your favorite teacher. What was even more surprising — was that my three year old got in on the conversation. If you had to teach someone something —what could you teach? If you had to rename yourself —what name would you give yourself? What is you favorite letter of the alphabet? Make up a new sport. Who is the funniest person at the table? In other variations, participants are asked to re-combine the ideas into new, different categories after the first round of organization occurs.
When does it embarrass you? Speech and debate instills confidence on kids and it enables them to become good communicators. This is similar to the Backchannel discussion. If you could only have one wish — what would it be? Hope to connect with you. Create a new cereal flavor. What is the most effective way to intervene? We face the challenge of engaging every student given the constraints of the class size and time.
How do you define bravery? Why is your favorite color your favorite? Does this Kind of Parenting Work? Try for one day, then just one more day. What is the longest word you know how to spell? If you had a robot for one day what would you ask it to do? And resist the urge to lecture, which will make your child tune you out. It may be useful to describe how you feel as you discuss the news event. If a girl is attracted to a guy, what do you think is the best way for her to show it? Young children are mostly worried about whether they will be safe and if the people they love will be all right. Do you like riding in the car? For instance, a girl who thought she should have been born into a boy's body? Why shouldn't kids smoke it? If planned right, it can be fast and break up the monotony of the classroom.