One of my goals for the year is to have students leading discussions analyzing text. Today was one of those days where I could see the goal coming to life. We were evaluating our own responses to literature, and deciding whether they were above, at, below, or well below standard. I started to reviewing our purpose for literature response (done largely through our Fact/Question/Response FQR sheets). We talked about the need to make clear connections, give examples and detail, while also having clear and complete sentences.
I took 5 different student responses, unedited, and typed them into my flipchart. I read them orally, with kids following along, and then had them use their Activotes to evaluate them (for those unfamiliar with Activotes, they are voting devices connected to the Interactive Whiteboard we have-Activboard). After letting kids see the results visually (30% say 3, 40% say 2, etc) I had students discuss what they chose with their table group (usually shoulder partner) and then I had students from one of the voting blocs start off why they voted that way. From there I asked for students who disagreed with that point of view, and we continued going back and forth for 3-5+ minutes before moving onward to another response.
The result was fantastic. The buzz in the room during the table group discussion was lively, even from reluctant readers/speakers. Kids were pointing at the board to talk about their responses, using language from our stated purpose. When we moved into whole group discussion a variety of kids participated, and they were talking to each other respectfully. Best of all was the content of their discussion, as kids used language like: "I disagree with you about there not being a connection. It says 'it reminds me' in the first sentence, which shows the connection they are making" or "...not having complete sentences made it hard for me to understand it."
Some days go really well... today was one of those days.
I think this was a great exercise and it sounds like your students were doing exactly what you wanted them to do. Well done! I really like the idea of you typing up the students papers and having the kids vote on them. I think it was great to have those results available immediately for discussion. I think it is a great way for the students to take ownership of their work.
ReplyDeleteI am interested in how you chose the 5 papers you used for analysis. Did you randomly choose the papers or did you use specific papers that would elicit specific responses?
Hello,
ReplyDeleteI am currently student teaching in the LWSD. I love the idea of using Activotes in the classroom, but have only seen them used for tests. I have found that kids actually enjoy taking these types of tests, and in fact, they can hardly contain themselves when they see they have answered a question correctly. I had never thought to use Activotes to facilitate an interactive conversation with students and can see how this would be very successful. The kids seem to have fun with the technology, even when taking a test, so using the Activotes for engaging small and large group discussions is a great idea. Thank you for your post!
I was intentional with what responses I chose. I wanted to highlight those that lacked clarity (clear/complete sentences), or lacked detail. Additionally I chose another 1-2 that were muddled because of details/clarity, and a final one that was very clear. Ultimately it highlighted how difficult it can be to evaluate our work. Beyond that I chose one that was clearly detailed, and had evidence of lots of work. I made sure not to put them back to back so that kids saw them as predictable continuum, but instead needed to discuss what they should be as they really are quite muddled.
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