Expect Unexpected Engagement When you try Hexagonal Thinking in ELA

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When Discussion goes off the Rails

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We’ve all been in a discussion hurtling off the track and into the canyon, far, far below. Chances are, you’ve been in this type of discussion as a student AND as a teacher, and it’s no fun in either scenario.

So how do we prevent it?

And what do we do if it’s already happening and glaze is washing over our students’ eyes?

In today’s episode, the fifth in our discussion series, we’re diving into how to deal with discussions that go off the rails. Because even if YOU prepare in all the ways, those days happen. And it doesn’t mean all is lost.

Ooh, by the way, do you have my free discussion toolkit yet? It contains many of the tools we’ll be talking about today.

Prevent Discussion Failures with Warm-Ups

We’ve already talked about this in the series, but discussion warm-ups are the easiest way to make sure that discussion DOESN’T go off the rails, so let’s quickly dive into them here.

Students will struggle less to speak about topics they’ve already warmed up on, and you’ll feel less pressure to rescue them.

So take a few minutes at the start to do a small group chat, a writing activity, a text search, a related media clip, etc. to help students begin to think about the topics they’ll be discussing. The more help you feel they need, the more specific and extensive you can make your warm-up.

For example, for a group of independent students who are doing well with discussion, you could just have them write down one question. For a group on the struggle bus, you could give them a list of five questions and ask them to discuss three of them with a partner. Now you’ve got kids all over the room who have prepared to talk about multiple possible questions. 

Avoid Discussion Rescue Mode (Use Scaffolds Instead)

This is another thing we’ve touched on, and it’s, again, a vital point. If you rescue students every time things get awkward in discussion, they will stay reliant on you to do that.

So instead, you want to try different scaffolds that will let students succeed without you.

Scaffolds that you can gradually eliminate as your students become more confident in their discussions. 

Scaffolds we’re going to get into now…

Try a Pause, Turn, and Talk

An easy way to pump energy into a wilting discussion is to come out of it for a few minutes.

Invite students to pause, turn to a partner and discuss something that will help ease the way into the next part of the discussion.

Maybe someone just brought up an interesting question but no one is jumping on it.

Invite everyone to turn and discuss it with a partner, finding text to support their ideas. Then, five minutes later, restart the discussion.

Try a Pause and Write

Similarly, you can invite everyone to pause and write for a little while on a question you want to see the group dig deeper into.

Maybe the class discussed it for thirty seconds, without digging into text at all or making any connections to their lives or other works. And then discussion died out.

Ask them to pull out their notebooks and go deeper. Give them some ideas on types of connections they could explore. Then, again, restart the discussion a few minutes later.

Switch into Silent Mode

We talked about silent discussions in the first episode of this series, and for good reason! At any time in a verbal discussion, you could switch it over into silent mode.

Simply invite everyone to take out their notebook, write a question based on the themes that have come up so far or about something they WISH would come up, and then start the process of passing notebooks to the left and responding. You can choose to finish out the discussion in silent mode or switch back to verbal at any point.

Break the Discussion Silence Tension with Cricket Chirps (Show you’re not Afraid)

You can find a sound clip for almost anything these days, including cricket noises (this clip has been played on Youtube 9.8 million times). You know the old joke, that you can only hear crickets when the room goes silent after a question? Try actually playing a cricket noise from your computer or phone when you want to break the silence of an awkward pause.

Students will probably be confused, then laugh, then get ready to move past that awkward silence. Give them a little pep talk with reminders about how they can transition to a new topic or build on an old one when there is a long silence. 

Help Students try something new with Discussion Role Cards

I like to use role cards very sparingly, just to change things up when class feels stuck in a rut in discussion. You can create roles of any kind, like “Current Events Connector,” “Open-Ended question asker,” “Follow up question asker,” “Connector to other texts,” etc. Anything you want students to work on. Or you can grab the free set pictured above over on TPT.

Create the roles and assign them secretly, by leaving little folded up papers on each desk before the discussion or taping them under the desks for students to find. Sometimes students will feel more free to try new things when they’re playing a defined role, and they’ll invariably try something they don’t usually do in discussion. At the end of the discussion, invite students to share their roles, and reflect on what they learned by changing out of their usual mode of discussion and seeing others do the same. 

Create a Challenge for next time around a Pain Point

Maybe your students are really struggling around a certain area of discussion. Like maybe all their questions are staying on the surface, or they’re never referring to text to back up their points.

Create a little challenge or contest around the problem area.

For example, for the question issue, hold a discussion question contest leading into the next discussion. See who can bring the most extensive, interesting, varied list of questions in. Give them some ideas for types of questions to get them thinking. Then offer a little prize, like extra credit, a get-out-of-homework free card or a donut to whoever’s list impresses you most.

Or for the text references, you might challenge the class to see if they can refer to text ten times in the discussion, and offer some small group prize to everyone if they can manage it, like a pack of Smarties each or the chance to watch the world’s funniest cat video in the last two minutes of class. If they don’t get it the first time you offer the challenge, offer it again soon.

Work on Anchor Charts Together

Another way to deal with it if your students are struggling to ask strong questions or make varied comments, is to pause and have a conversation around the types of comments and questions that enrich discussion.

Do a group brainstorm and make anchor charts for your wall with the ideas.

Maybe students just aren’t thinking about, for example, connecting literature to their own lives, to current events, to other classes, to history, etc. And because they’re not thinking about that, their discussions lack depth and they’re not creating meaning based on the reading.

But if you pause and discuss these possibilities, then put them up in bright letters on the wall, more kids are likely to give them a try. 

Limit your Length (and add a countdown timer on the board)

Last but not least, remember that a discussion doesn’t have to last a whole class period. If your discussions are going off the rails a lot, try getting students on board with the idea of a short, powerful discussion. Try to help them crush an eight minute discussion, then work your way up.

Just as students can build reading stamina, I believe they can build up their discussion muscles by having positive experiences around discussion and learning small lessons along the way. A thirty minute discussion is going to feel a lot less intimidating after a series of shorter, effective discussions in which students have strengthened their ability to make connections, ask deep questions, explore text carefully, listen to each other, and make transitions between topics. 

You’ve got This

The next time you’re in a discussion that’s not going well, remember, you’ve got options. You don’t have to stay in a train sliding off the rails! And if you find yourself thinking that some form of discussion accountability might help if it wasn’t so complicated, you’ve guessed the topic of the next (and final) episode in our discussion series, coming your way soon!  

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