Jan. 28: Discussion-Based Lit.

From the readings, I noticed that my classroom is largely recitation-based. Ms. M reads to the kids and asks them follow-up questions like the ones in the Almasi article. She calls on students to answer questions by drawing their sticks out of a cup or calls on students she thinks haven't been paying attention. I think the curriculum sort of calls for this type of instruction, however. The school uses Reading Street which lays out lessons and questions. Ms. M doesn't like Reading Street, so I'd like to see how her class would go if she didn't have to use it.
I think the students would need a lot of encouragement in order to have a discussion. I have never seen one in the classroom, except for when I tried to have a science discussion with them last semester. It didn't go as I had planned. The students would have needed scaffolding to bounce ideas off of each other and direct the conversation themselves. They haven't had any practice with it.
The way the classroom is set up wouldn't really encourage class discussion. They could have discussions in table groups, but the teacher wouldn't be able to listen to everyone at once. When they have whole-group time, they sit in rows on the carpet and would have to turn around to face who ever was talking.
One student does not participate well. When she is called on, she takes a long time to answer and answers really quietly. I feel like she is not motivated to answer the questions because she feels like Ms. M already knows the answer and doesn't understand why she has to repeat it back. I think she could do well in discussion with scaffolding because she talks at other times. She would just need help comprehending the literature first so that she could try to make connections.
I can't imagine how discussion in a first grade room would go. But I could see the more talkative students participating.