Discussion Based Lessons for Diverse Learners

-use a visual timer

Accountable Talk
- make them use evidence to justify.
-Leave a card at the table to remind them to use evidence (This encourages the others to ask questions for evidence and to listen to each other).   
-why do we want them to do this- helping them to see evidence means they can see the reason why we do this.
*card to model very useful
*student was asking the student instead of teacher- creates deeper discussion and control with students

Grouping
-mixed ability is better 
-more high achievers means that everyone does worse
-change the groups as often as possible
-group many different ways
-organsie the classroom to account for mixed grouping (MLE)
Remember the organising serves the purpose, not the other way around

Managing Time
-use a visual timer
-students at 8 years has the same time monitoring patterns as a grown up

Managing Linguistic Diversity
-stepping outside comfort zone is important for teachers
-why do we make them do everything in a second language
-students are comfortable in a language that everyone understands- let them use a language they are good at.
-some can be dominating if they understand more- some students may want to work independently

Oracy
-Talk,talk,talk,talk,talk!!!!
-helps to build reflection skills, critical thinking skills
*you can get more talk from students if you give them a statement instead of a question.

Setting Clear expectations
--set clear explicit expectations

-helps manage students as well as guide their learning
(often a lesson flop is purely due to the students not understanding what they need to do- even a game can suck if they don't know how to play)

What:-procedures
-what is quality?
-what is substance?

How:-models
-writing expectaions (SC)
-poster of steps

Figure 5.1. Language of Learning Poster Language objective	What is it?	What does it sound like?
To instruct	Giving directions	"The first step is …" "Next …" "The last part is …"
To inquire	Asking questions	Who? What? When? Where? Why? How? "What do you think?"
To test	Deciding if something makes sense	"I still have a question about …" "What I learned is …"
To describe	Telling about something	Use descriptive words and details
To compare and contrast	Showing how two things are alike and different	"Here is something they both have in common …" "These are different from each other because …"
To explain	Giving examples	"This is an example of …" "This is important because …"

To analyze	Discussing the parts of a bigger idea	"The parts of this include …" "We can make a diagram of this."
To hypothesize	Making a prediction based on what is known	"I can predict that …" "I believe that _________ will happen because …" "What might happen if …?"
To deduce	Drawing a conclusion or arriving at an answer	"The answer is because …"
To evaluate	Judging something	"I agree with this because …" "I disagree because …" "I recommend that …" "A better solution would be …" "The factors that are most important are …"

Accountable Talk Poster Remember to …	Sounds like …
Ask questions when you don't understand a topic.	Can you tell me more? Would you say that again? Can you give me another example so I can understand?
Give a reason why your idea is a good one.	This reminds me of ______ because _____. I believe this is true because __________.
Ask for evidence when something sounds incorrect.	I'm not sure that's right. Can you tell me why you think it is true? Can you show me a place in the book that illustrates that idea?
Give evidence to support your statements.	Read a passage from the book that illustrates your idea. Bring another information source to support your idea.
Use ideas from others to add to your own.	I agree with _______ because _______. ______'s idea reminds me of ________.

Tables from:

Content-Area Conversations: How to Plan Discussion-Based Lessons for Diverse Language Learners

by Douglas Fisher, Nancy Frey and Carol Rothenberg