Oral and Written Discourse

Explore these strategies to intentionally support Oral and Written Discourse as part of the Learning Environment in your classroom.

Fact Question Respond Format When asking students questions, have them respond in a FQR format. Have them answer the question with a Fact, then ask a related Question, then Respond to the question. For example, if you ask "Why did the bulb light?," students may answer as follows. Fact: Because the wires formed a complete circuit. Question: How fast does the current move through the wires? Response: I'll add that question to my journal to research later. The FQR promotes critical and creative thinking instead of basic recall. Round Robin Use the “Round Robin” group brainstorming technique to elicit students’ personal knowledge or to share information about a topic. Ask students a question or give them a prompt, and have them write their response on index cards. Compile a combined list from the individual cards and record additional ideas. This brainstorming allows all students to have a voice, even those less comfortable with speaking up in class, and results in building a complete list of ideas around a topic. Journaling Have students capture their ideas in a journal as they work through an investigation. Primary grade students can capture their thoughts in drawings, keeping them engaged as they move through the process of scientific inquiry. Older students can express their learning in writing, enabling them to see their learning clearly. Check student journals regularly and use them as a quick formative assessment to provide insight into how the students are processing their learning. Four Corners For questions that have multiple possible answers and/or perspectives, put four different answers to the question in the four corners of the room. Ask students to go to a corner, discuss the topic with the other students in the corner, and then support and defend their choice to the rest of the class. Compare and Contrast Having students explain similarities and differences they find between two processes or concepts is a great way to promote critical thinking. Use a Venn diagram or other graphic organizer to represent similarities/differences visually. Students could compare needs of plants and animals, land formations in different states, math problems that have the same answer, etc.

Oral and Written Discourse is the written and spoken exchange of ideas. Discourse is crucial to sense-making. Students check their ideas against the ideas of others and clarify and refine their own thinking.

Oral and Written Discourse

Research in Progress Scientists often share their work with other scientists to get feedback that will inform their work. Have students share their findings during an investigation to foster rich discussions and develop understandings. Students can share information on investigation methods, data, data analysis, etc. Audience members ask clarifying questions and offer constructive feedback.

Research in Progress Your Thoughts, Your Way Getting thoughts out of students' heads and onto paper or expressed verbally helps them clarify and refine ideas. Have students show their thinking about a new topic or as a review of their learning. Allow them to choose one of the methods to display their thinking: think and write, think and draw, or think and talk. Seed the Audience Use discussion starter cards to raise the level of critical thinking, get all students participating, and guide effective discourse. You can have a student draw the card out of a bin or you could pre-seed the group by handing a couple of students cards as they enter class. Gallery Walk Have students position boards showing their work on easels, stands, a chalkboard ledge, or propped up against a wall or table. Have groups walk around the room to view all the boards. One person from each group can stay back to answer questions from the other groups. Present and Defend Have students conduct a Present and Defend to develop presentation skills as well as audience participation skills. Research teams present a summary of their investigation to the class. The class analyzes the information presented and asks clarifying questions, challenges and/or supports the arguments made, and even presents alternative explanations as appropriate. Research teams defend their explanation with evidence and reasoning.

Present and Defend Claim, Evidence, Reasoning (C-E-R) Support students in creating scientific explanations by using the C-E-R format. Students should answer their investigation question clearly in their Claim. Then they should use Evidence to support their claim. Then they should provide Reasoning (an argument) as to why the evidence supports the claim. Reasoning can include information about how the evidence was collected during the investigation as well as how scientific principles, laws, theories, etc. support the claim.

Claim, Evidence, Reasoning (C-E-R)

Inquiry-BasedScience

Researchers share their investigation progress with other scientists for feedback. Use this process to share your progress with peers during an investigation.

Research in progressSharing our work in progress!

Consider the information presented • Ask clarifying questions • Provide feedback • Challenge or support thinking • Share related investigations

Researcher

Present a summary

Audience

• Successes achieved in the investigation• Areas of the investigation needing feedback• Surprises, new learnings, wonderings

XFINISH

START