Out of 210 easy to read pages, I've dog-eared 18 and scribbled 185 with reflective annotations. The sure sign of a good book and one you are going to want to read as SOON as you get the chance! And what do you know...this week just happens to be Question Week 2016, March 13-19! What better time to start exploring.
Last year as a 4th grade teacher, I could get my students to have academic conversations like the best of them. However, I struggled with shifting the focus from me asking the questions in teacher-guided discussions to them creating their own and sharing them in structured small groups and student-driven ones. Questioning for Classroom Discussion by Jackie Acree Walsh and Beth Dankert Sattes has answered my prayers!! These authors challenge teachers to remove themselves from the stage and invite students to take the responsibility for the thinking and meaning making. Moving from the current model of having students just answer teacher formulated questions to getting students to create and share the rich authentic questions they have, students learn content at a deeper level. However, the author's warn that it's not a random questioning free for all! They share the purposeful planning, process and practical, easy to implement strategies necessary to establish questioning for classroom discussions. Might this be the next book club?
Check it out here at this ASCD link -
http://www.ascd.org/Publications/Books/Overview/Questioning-for-Classroom-Discussion.aspx
We have an extra copy here in the District Office if you'd like to check it out!
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