This video demonstrates how a guiding question with a variety of answers can help stimulate genuine thought and response. This strategy can be used in most all content areas.
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THE STRATEGY
Students are introduced to Consensus Decision Making through a critical discussion of a text's central ideas. 1. Students first read and discuss issue statements related to the text. They respond to the list of issue statements individually, providing rationale for their positions. 2. Students then discuss their positions in small groups and as a whole class, focusing on the areas that prompted the biggest disagreements among students. THE RESEARCH Smith, M. W., & Wilhelm, J. D. (2006). Going with the flow: How to engage boys (and girls) in their literacy learning. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann. Duffelmeyer, F. (1994). Effective Anticipation Guide statements for learning from expository prose. Journal of Reading, 37, 452-455. Forget, M. (2004). Max Teaching with Reading and Writing: Classroom Activities for Helping Students Learn New Subject Matter While Acquiring Literacy Skills. Victoria, Canada: Trafford Publishing. |
"We share our consciousness through conversation and achieve intersubjectivity—the ability to learn by combining our consciousness with another’s" (Smith and Wilhelm 2006). |