Maintaining the Conversation While Teaching Thematic Concepts

Teachers bear a tremendous responsibility to support students in developing understanding in various ways. Students must learn how to articulate their insights while also allowing themselves to be influenced by the ideas of their peers. Teachers are trying to monitor behavior while occasionally glancing at our prepared questions as the discussion progresses. We begin to categorize the students' discussion in terms of what it tells us about their thinking (LM Bambara, 2021).

Teachers Always Check Their Notes; Conversations Can e Challenging

One thing we like to do as teachers is; make it a habit to check our Teachers’ guide or notes a few minutes before the discussion is over. The purpose of the conversation is to provide a safe space for participants to work through their visions—their current understanding of the text. We do not want students to leave having misinterpreted a vital piece of the story especially if they have enough time to follow it through. Together, we can investigate various interpretations and select the ones that make the most sense in light of the evidence presented.

Interrupting Students; Debating and Delivering Student Points of View

Teachers are also responsible for Increasing the stakes; while raising the bar on what students have been concentrating on, encouraging more students to participate in the discussion, and playing devil’s advocate to insert a new lens of learning. With this push teachers are asking that students back up their claims and consider their comments and clarify; ask for evidence, either by inviting another student to provide it or by delivering it yourself. Prior to our conversations, we must  Inform students of norms and express that if we are off-topic or if comments are inappropriate we will redirect students' attention to a more directly related question. Students may require a more exciting topic or more time to think about the issue or refocus the question so it can be discussed.

How Can Teachers Keep the Conversation Going Past the Discussion?

Consensus is neither required nor desired at the end of a book discussion. Our students are no exception; as they walk out of the classroom and into their dinner table conversations at home, they talk and think about what others have said. Discussions consume a significant amount of class time, ranging from 20 to 50 minutes on average. However, when considering the content covered and its connection to life, arguments, connections to other text, and the immediate future proves to be a very efficient use of class time.

Thematic Learning Connect Topics Across Texts and Subject Areas  

Another method for increasing content knowledge is to link your curriculum throughout the year so that a text read in September has themes or more significant issues relevant to a text read in March. After students have entered the book and are engaged in and moving through the story, you can focus more on the essential scenes and less on specific details, always beginning with questions and comments from the students.  We proposed that evaluating each student's oral contributions to the discussion would be practical and conceptually challenging because not all participation is verbal. Authentic literature discussions incorporate uptake and student comments and ideas as a significant part of the content, leading to student achievement.

Conclusion

Using journal prompts that relate to the theme and the classroom conversation is another way to develop literary understanding. The simplest way to ensure that these more significant issues are addressed is to write them down to ensure all questions were a part of the conversation. Allowing students to write and ask questions increases the likelihood that they will address some of the significant issues (Licoppe, 2021).

How do you support students who are disruptive? Well, sometimes you need a little more than pacing to ensure your students are on the same page. Here are some things you can do to keep the class on track while supporting one student.

 References

 Licoppe, C. (2021). The spectre of 'ghosting'and the sequential organization of post-match Tinder chat conversations.

 LM Bambara, C. C. (2021). Using peer supports to encourage adolescents with autism spectrum disorder to show interest in their conversation partners. Using Peer Supports to Encourage Adolescents With Autism Spectrum Disorder to Show Interest in Their Conversation Partners.