"What's the Most Important Word in the Pledge of Allegiance?"

Recently, I read an article in Educational Leadership entitled "Talking to Learn:  Why are student-driven discussions worth the effort?  Three reasons:  learning, freedom, and fun" by Elizabeth A. City, and it highlighted how much we learn through dialogue.

We shouldn't teach dialogue because the CCSS says so, but we should teach it because students learn through conversations (the person doing the talking is doing the thinking!).  Think of the powerful topics and concepts that can come from a discussion of the words in the Pledge of Allegiance:  symbolism, US history, government structures, and so much more.  Plus, students practice the valuable skill of providing support for their "central idea."

Check out these great conversations students at TMS have had...

Students in this math class, begin talking about how to use the substitution rule to solve for x and y, discussing what makes it difficult in this particular problem.

A third partner joins them as they struggle through figuring in on their own; one more perspective equals success!

Students in social studies preview school subjects and decide what's most important, determining what to continue in their fictional educational system and what to drop.

Students then discuss and come to a consensus about what subjects will remain in their fictional schools, dialoguing about the value of various subjects in relationship to culture.

Students use their "student response cards" to write thesis statements before sharing them in group discussion.  Students can then dialogue about what makes a strong thesis statement.

Students work together on problem-solving and communication skills, one partner creates and articulates their design to another student who must replicate it without seeing it.  Getting kids to process through what worked and didn't in their communication systems is a great use of authentic dialogue.

Now, here are some steps you can take to increase dialogue in your classroom:

1)  Pair Share - get kids engaged in the content by having them discuss the topic of instruction.
2)  Arrange your Classroom - by having tables, circles, and u-shapes, face-to-face interactions result.
3)  Use Text to Start the Conversation - text can be print or non-print to spark conversation about your learning target.
4)  Develop Discussion Protocols - kids don't automatically know how to "dialogue," but a few simple rules from you can make all the difference.  Here are a few examples:

• Last Word:  When reading a text, each student chooses 1 sentence to highlight as important, reading it and explaining why it's important.  Students in the small group, then have 1 minute to comment.  The student who highlighted the sentence then gets 2-3 minutes to have the "last word" before the next student shares their ideas.
• Four As:  Students study a "text" with 4 questions in mind: What do you Agree with in the text?  What Assumptions does the author of the text hold?  What do you want to Argue with in the text? and What parts of the text do you Aspire to?  Students then discuss their 4 As as a group.