Strategies to Get Students to Discuss in the Classroom

Last week, Chad Cooley and I had a conversation about graded discussions that he hosts in his AP English 12 classes. I'm a firm believer in classrooms where students do most of the talking, and I was intrigued by his description of the graded discussion. He has promised me he would write a blog post detailing the procedure, so I thought I would share a video of the class and a picture of the detailed notes that students keep during the discussion. 

For the graded discussion notes, students divide their notebook paper vertically. On the left, they list students' names. On the right, they list important points made by the students during the discussion. Mr. Cooley will share more details in his upcoming blog post.

Bonus: 3 Videos for Getting Kids Talking

Strategies for Student-Centered Discussion

Pick A Side: Warm-Up & Discuss

Debrief Circles


What are other strategies to get students discussing?