The 7th graders started reading the book The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind by William Kamkwambe. For each chapter they read, they identify and jot down thoughts, questions and epiphanies they have about the book. These TQE’s the students bring to class form the basis of their student-run discussions about the book.
Students are learning about discussion norms, and are working hard to have deep, analytical discussions while at the same time holding themselves and their classmates to these norms. For each student-led discussion, we draw a spider web map for the students to analyze and assess following each discussion. The spider web picture shows many of the elements we want the students to work on during their discussions including:
-balancing the voices heard
-using text-based references
-posing thoughtful open-ended questions
-offering analysis of the text
-making connections to other pieces of literature
-listening until a classmate is done speaking before jumping into the conversation
-disagreeing respectfully
-adding onto the thoughts and ideas of classmates
-working collaboratively and intentionally to uncover and wrestle with the big ideas in the book