Classroom discourse plays a huge role in the storyline classroom (and in many other classrooms not using this approach). For years, I have been using TERC’s Talk Moves to help guide classroom discourse, but I haven’t used writing as an intentional and ongoing scaffold for these discussions. Mary addresses this idea starting on page 49 of her book where she suggests we move from turn and talk (think, pair, share) to write, turn, and talk. In doing so, we allow (force) all students to wrestle with the topic and commit some thinking to paper. We also give them time to write to figure out what they think.
I’ve often done things in the classroom to get students to commit to a way of thinking. Sometimes I use 4 corners or an activity like commit and toss, but rarely have I had students do their initial writing in a notebook that they write in daily. This type of writing builds a pattern of thinking and can show students how their thinking develops over time. It can also help them build more solid arguments, as they will be called on to defend their ideas in class. Those whose initial ideas already included evidence and reasoning will be at an advantage and will serve as examples to those who didn’t include evidence. As the year advances and these kinds of discussions occur regularly, more and more students will start including evidence in their initial writing.
Another benefit of having students record their initial thoughts in a notebook is that it can help normalize the notion of changing one’s thinking when presented with convincing evidence. This can be achieved by having students return to their before discussion writing and adding a follow-up statement that explains how their thinking changed through the classroom discussion. They may be more convinced of their initial idea through the addition of evidence or they may no longer support their initial idea, having been dismayed by ample evidence.
This writing doesn’t have to be graded. It serves to advance the understanding of science content and science as a self-correcting enterprise. A teacher could ask students to lift evidence from the daily notebook to show how their thinking has deepened through the year, if assessment is desired. Otherwise, the evidence of this practice will show up on classroom assessments of the content and in places where students are asked to think like a scientist.
Is there a place in your plan for the week that would allow for a little more initial writing before a class discussion?
Mary expands on the theory behind the practice. . .
If you think you don’t have enough time in the classroom for writing, see how this middle school teacher uses writing in science to get her students engaged in an earth science unit. (There are other great literacy sources at this Annenberg Learner website for reading and writing in the disciplines.)
Writing after a discussion is equally important since committing words to paper supports memory. You can prompt this with a simple question: “How has our talking affected you today? Summarize your thinking here.” Collecting this writing for a quick read through will provide you with lots of instructional information but, as David says, it can go ungraded. When students see how writing is used immediately in the classroom, they stop asking about grades. (If you don’t believe me, try it.)