Generating Effective Discussion Questions

8/2/2019 Generating Effective Discussion Questions

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Generating Effective Discussion Questions

In addition to answering the bookmark questions, some teachers may find itworthwhile to have students generate their own questions to enrich discussions. Thishelps students develop critical thinking skills and provides for more open-ended

discussion. It is suggested that each student prepare one additional discussionquestion for the first meeting, two for the second, and so on. In order for students tounderstand what makes an effective discussion question, the following lesson maybe used.

Discussion Question Concept Attainment Lesson

Reproduce the following table onto a transparency.

Yes No

How might the main character inthe story react if she hadntknown the details about the fight?

What is the main charactersname?

Why might the narrator choose toto turn himself in even though hecould have gotten away with thecrime.

What did Laura say to her mother when she talked to her on thephone?

How will the main characters

mother cope with the fact that her son has rebelled against thefamilys wishes?

Why does Jimmy claim to be

afraid of heights?

What would you do if you were inthe main characters position?

When can the main character leave the hospital?

Explain to students that you will present them with a series of questions. Thequestions will have some things in common but some of the questions are Yes

examples and some are No examples. Ask students to think about the differencebetween the two types of questions.

Reveal one pair of questions at a time. For the first couple, ask students to thinkabout the difference between the two. They may jot down some thoughts on a pieceof paper. By the third set, have students share their thoughts with a partner andinvite students to share their ideas. Then reveal the fourth set and ask students if they can add any more ideas about the difference between the two.


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You can then provide students with some of the following testers. Ask them if theseare Yes or No examples, by giving a thumbs-up to indicate yes and thumbs-down to indicate no.

Testers

When would it be acceptable for the main character to resort toviolence?

Where did Yusef find the hidden key?

How would the villain justify his actions?

How can Kristina redeem herself?

What is Jakes explanation for burning down the convenience

store?

How would you describe the authors attitude toward the subjectmatter?

Students should begin to understand that the Yes examples are more complexquestions that do not necessarily have simple answers. They require students tocombine knowledge of the text with their own life experience and prior knowledge inorder to formulate responses. These are questions that deal with the higher levels of Blooms Taxonomy.

In order to help students develop rich discussion questions, they can use thefollowing Q chart. Students questions should fit under the Analysis, Prediction,Synthesis/Application quadrants in order to promote rich discussion.


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Is Did Can Would Will Might

What

Knowledge/Comprehension PredictionWhere

WhenWho

WhyAnalysis Synthesis/Application

How

Qualities of Effective Group Work

1) Ask students to think about a time when they worked in a group and it didntgo very well. What went wrong? How did they feel in that situation? Studentscan do a short free write on this topic and then pair up and share their experiences.

2) Record the students responses on a black board and then repeat theprocess but have students think of a positive experience. Remind them thatthe group work experience does not have to be school-related.

3) As a class, create an anchor chart that outlines what effective group worklooks like, sounds like, and feels like. Their responses might look somethinglike this:

4) Post the chart somewhere visible and have students refer to it to evaluatehow effectively they worked.

Effective Group Work

Looks like Sounds like Feels like

Face to face interaction

Nodding heads

Open body language(arms not crossed,smiling, etc.)

Thats an interesting idea.Have you considered?

Thanks for sharing that.

Has everyone had achance to talk?

One person talking at atime

Safe

Inclusive

Friendly

Productive


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5) You may wish to run a practice book club session with a short non-fictionarticle or short story. Then have students evaluate their performance. Discusswhether or not there are any additions they could make to the chart.

Issue Novels/ ShortStories

Non-fiction(articles, news,books,websites)

Movies or TV Music

1.

2.


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3.

4.

Conclusionsaboutreliability of the source,and reasons

VeryreliableSomewhat reliableNotreliable

because


because


because


because

Additional/Supplementary Lessons

Blogging

Blogging allows students to reflect more personally on their novels but it also allows

them to write for an authentic audience of their peers. Since students may not havethe time in class during book club meetings to learn about the ways in which similar issues are explored in other books, blogging allows students to make connections ina virtual space.

It is probably most effective for students to blog after each book club meeting as away to reflect on and synthesize ideas discussed during the meeting. The teacher


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may wish to generate prompts for the blog posts, or leave them open-ended. Seesample rubrics and guidelines.

There are a number of different platforms available for setting up student blogs suchas Blogger (http://www.blogger.com), Edublogs (http://www.blogger.com), and

Tumblr ( http://www.tumblr.com ). These sites will all allow students to createpersonalized blogs. They can then link to their classmates blogs in order to read andcomment on their posts. For more information and tutorials on blogging, see the FreeTechnology for Teachers website ( http://www.freetech4teachers.com/p/creating-effective-blogs-websites.html ).

Digital Citizenship

Blogging also provides the teacher and students with opportunities to talk aboutgood digital citizenship. Its important to remember that when you post somethingonline, it leaves a kind of footprint. Students should think about the kinds of footprints

they are leaving online. This is an opportunity for them to create a positive digitalidentity. As a class, brainstorm guidelines for posting information online. Possibleideas might be:

Never post personal information: address, phone number, email Use first name and last initial only Do not use other peoples work without permission Never say anything online that you wouldnt say to a persons face Never post something you wouldnt want your grandmother or a future boss

to see Be supportive and constructive

Post these guidelines somewhere visible. You may even have them post them as apractice blog post.

The following handouts and rubric are provided as suggestions for how a teacher might begin to incorporate blogging as part of the Book Club unit.
http://www.tumblr.com/http://www.freetech4teachers.com/p/creating-effective-blogs-websites.htmlhttp://www.freetech4teachers.com/p/creating-effective-blogs-websites.htmlhttp://www.freetech4teachers.com/p/creating-effective-blogs-websites.htmlhttp://www.freetech4teachers.com/p/creating-effective-blogs-websites.htmlhttp://www.tumblr.com/


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Book Club Blog Day 1

You will blog after each book club meeting to extend your book club beyond the borders

of the classroom. A blog is an online journal that allows you to share your ideas witheach other so that you will be able to make connections between the books read inclass. It is public, so please remember to practice good digital citizenship. Anybehaviour or talk that is inappropriate for class is also inappropriate for our blogs.

Todays instructions:

1) Go to the following website: www.blogger.com

2) If you already have a Google account, you can log in and get started. If you donthave a Google account, click Get Started. Follow the instructions to set up your blog.

Tips:

You can decide what youd like the title should be but it shouldgive your reader some sense of what your blog is about.

Remember this is public so when you set up your profile, use afirst name and last initial only for your display name and makesure you have show my email unchecked.

Under Settings turn on comment moderation. That way you willget an email when someone comments on your blog and you canchoose whether or not to publish it.

If you ever get a comment from someone that makes youuncomfortable, come and see me.

1) Write your first blog post! Aim for about 200 words. Try writing about your firstimpressions of the book. What do you like about it? What dont you like? Whatpredictions can you make about how the story will unfold?

2) Once your post is finished, tag it to help your classmates find out what your topicis about. Tags are key words that help users locate information. Tags are alsoknown as labels on Blogger.

3) Start following the other bloggers in our class by going to your Dashboard.Then scroll down to Blogs Im Following and click Add. You can ask your classmates what their URLs are for their blog, or wait for your teacher to compilea class list.
http://www.blogger.com/http://www.blogger.com/http://www.blogger.com/


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Book Club Blog Day 2

By now you should have your blog set up and should have started to follow the

other bloggers in class. Today youre going to jazz up your blog post andcomment on at least two other posts. If youre not sure how to do any of thesethings, ask a classmate for help or check the Help button at the top right corner of your screen.

1) Jazz up your blog post! Add a picture or video that reminds you of the novel.Make sure you cite the source for the image or video. You can do this by Typingthe word source highlight the word click the link icon paste in the URL for the source of your image or video.

2) Make sure the list of blogs youre following is complete. Ask your teacher for a

copy of the class blog list if youre unsure.3) Read at least four blog posts, preferably from students who are reading a

different book than you.4) Choose at least two blogs to add a comment to. Your comment should do the

following: Make specific reference to something the blogger mentioned. Eg/

I like how you made the connection between your like and Kristinas.

Add to the discussion by making a connection, politely disagreeingand providing reasons, or raising a question.

Demonstrates proper spelling, grammar, and punctuation (nosmilies or text-message lingo).

1) When you get a comment, reply and thank the person for commenting. Your reply should indicate that youve read and considered their comment, so rather than just saying Thanks! you might say something like Thanks for your comment. I hadnt considered that Craig might be putting a lot of pressure onhimself at school.

2) If you have time left, check out the comments on your classmates blogs and seeif you can find an example of what you consider to be a really good blog post anda really good comment. Make a list of criteria for a good post and comment.


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ENG4C blog rubric Student self evaluation

Name:__________________

Criteria Level 1

5.5-6

Level 2

6.5-7

Level 3

7.5-8

Level 4

8.5-10

Bloggingconventions

(Knowledge)

/10

Some of my blogposts have aneffective title,tags, andreferencedimages, butsome aremissing anumber of

conventions

Most of my blogposts have aneffective title,tags, andreferencedimages, but afew maybemissing multipleconventions

Almost all of myblog posts havean effective title,tags, andreferencedimages

All of my blogposts have aneffective title,tags, andreferencedimages

Connections

(Thinking)

/10

Some of my blogpostsdemonstrateconnectionsbetween ideasstudied in classand my ownthoughts/experiences

Most of my blogpostsdemonstrategoodconnectionsbetween ideasstudied in classand my ownthoughts/

experiences

Almost all of myblog postsdemonstrategoodconnectionsbetween ideasstudied in classand my ownthoughts/

experiences

All of my blogpostsdemonstrateexcellentconnectionsbetween ideasstudied in classand my ownthoughts/

experiences

Content/writingconventions

(Communication)

/10

Some of my blogposts are atleast threeparagraphs long(or very close)anddemonstrateappropriatespelling,grammar, andpunctuation forthis medium

Most of my blogposts are atleast threeparagraphs long(or very close)anddemonstrateappropriatespelling,grammar, andpunctuation forthis medium

Almost all of myblog posts are atleast threeparagraphs longanddemonstrateappropriatespelling,grammar, andpunctuation forthis medium

All of my blogposts are atleast threeparagraphs longanddemonstrateappropriatespelling,grammar, andpunctuation forthis medium

On the back of this sheet, please reflect on your achievement and set somegoals for next time. If you were unable to meet the expectations at a levelone, please explain the grade you feel you earned and fill out the reflection


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on the back of this sheet.


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Reflection

Strengths: ________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________

Weaknesses: ________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________

Next steps: ________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________

Is there anything I can do to help? ________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________


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Documents

Generating Effective Discussion Questions