Quality Thinking, Quality Discussions
Posted by tdenton on October 19, 2008
This past week The class read the book Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes. After completing the book, they looked for a sentence, phrase, and word that represented the true meaning, the big idea of the book. The students then sat in a circle and stated these words in a round. After completing this activity, I asked the class the question, "What is this book really about?" From that point on, the class had a self-guided discussion that lasted for about twenty minutes. I posted the following prompts to help facilitate the process: "I agree with ________ because..., I disagree with __________ because..., and In addition to what ________ said, I think..."
During this time, I sat back and the students took over. It was a very powerful experience. All the 4th graders really listened to each other, took part in the discussion, and deepened their thinking. I took occasional video footage that I've posted below. Just to warn you, the sound is not very good. You'll have to either have very good speakers, or a very quiet room to hear the class properly.
