Peer+Discussion


 * Peer Recitation (for increased student involvement): **

Using the following methods encourages students to be more actively involved in checking their basic understanding of what they've read. It also adds a measure of peer involvement.

Method 1: Recitation led by **// HOME GROUPS //** // Have home groups of 4 students each take turns leading postreading recitation sessions, using structures such as these: //
 * // Five-question format: // A team leads the class in filling out a "who, what, when, where, why" outline.
 * //Peer questioning and the BUZZER!:// One team, designated as the answer team, tries to learn everything it can on a given section of text. The class then questions the answer team, and team members try to answer as best they can, with a short time limit for conferring when ncessary. For fun, a beeper or buzzer can be added.
 * // Written questions: // Everyone prepares a few questions on the material. Going around the room, students read one of their questions that has not been asked and call on a volunteer to answer. The teacher might collect the questions and use some on a future assessment. This enhances student motivation to write good questions and to listen carefully to the answers.
 * // Student groups work together to complete a graphic organizer // on paper or with software, based on the text material. This may be the final version of a graphic organizer generated as a //prereading activity// and then filled in individually by students as they read. When finished, each group presents and explains its graphic organizer to the class.
 * // Numbered Heads Together: // Have students number off within groups. The teacher asks a recitation-type question, and each group briefly confers to agree upon its answer. The teacher calls a number at random (1-4); the student with that number in each group stands. The teacher calls on one of these students to answer, then asks the other standing students if they agree; students sit and the next question is asked.
 * // Find the Fiction: // Seated in groups of 4, students work individually at first to write three statements: two true statements, based on the reading, and one false or fiction. Within groups, students take turns reading their three statements and challenging their partners to "Find the Fiction." Each group can then be asked to select the best set of its statements to challenge the rest of the class.
 * // Act it out: // Used for fiction and some nonfiction reading selections, this method assigns a team to act out the story for the class. One team member tells the story as the other three enact each story element, providing sound effects, actions, and setting elements. Following the presentation, discuss whether the enactment helped students to picture scenes, events, and characters and whether it changed thir first impressions of the story.

Method 2: //** JIGSAW **// ﻿ (click here to go to Jigsaw page)