Getting Them to Talk: A Guide to Leading Discussions in Middle Grades Classrooms

Talking. It s something that our middle grades students love to do. But how can we give them practice in talking so it advances their understanding?

How can we turn whatever response a student makes into the next step of the lesson s scaffold?

How can we encourage students to really listen to each other and, based on what they hear, reevaluate their own positions?

While doing all this, how do we manage the behavior of 30 young adolescents in our classroom?

This may sound overwhelming, but help is on the way. Getting Them to Talk: A Guide to Leading Discussions in Middle Grades Classrooms provides practical, classroom-tested strategies to lead productive classroom discussions, one of the most challenging skills of teaching.

Learn how to:

• Meet the Common Core standards for comprehension and collaboration
• Foster students critical thinking skills through active learning
• Develop empathy and intellectual depth in your students
• Support students identity formation as they articulate their ideas and integrate others ideas
• Plan facilitate, and assess discussions
• Create high quality questions that will engage all students and integrate neurological, cognitive, and social modes of reasoning
• Establish a collaborative, respectful community
• Provide a wide range of strategies for small and whole group discussion