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

Time pressures, standards-driven curricula, and rising populations of students who are struggling with English can make it hard to include discussions in your teaching, yet there are more good reasons than ever to use academic discourse to promote learning. Read this book to find out why and how discussion-based lessons help students—especially English language learners—to process and remember information, develop higher-order thinking, and advance their literacy skills. The authors introduce you to a four-component framework for discussion-based lessons and present strategies and guidelines on such issues as

1. When talk facilitates learning and when it doesn’t
2. The four types of talk that can guide instructional routines
3. How to vary academic discourse in specific subjects and across the content areas
4. Sample questions for planning discussion-based lessons
5. Flexible seating arrangements, visual supports, and community-building strategies that promote talking
6. Signal words and sentence frames that promote discussion
7. Ways to manage noise and time in the discussion-heavy classroom