Did you know that student discourse, or students talking on-topic in an academic environment, is vital to language acquisition, student engagement, and ultimately student achievement? The ACPS Professional Learning Website has many videos focusing on student discourse practices both at the primary and secondary level. Since student discourse routines need to be explicitly taught to students and reinforced in order to be most effective, it is essential that teachers have many discourse routines in their repertoire.
Check out our videos on some essential student discourse routines:
- Classrooms in Focus- Student Discourse: This video looks at student discourse routines in an ACPS secondary history classroom. Students take part in high level discourse at the partner, group and whole class level. The routines seen in this video are appropriate for both primary and secondary classrooms across content areas.
- Classrooms in Focus- Collaborative Learning: This video focuses on collaborative learning practices in a primary (4th grade) math class. Students demonstrate discourse at the partner, group and whole class level. The collaborative practices seen in this video are appropriate for both primary and secondary classrooms across content areas.
- Coach’s Cut- Random Reporter: These two videos look at a routine designed to increase student discourse and individual accountability. One video shows random reporter in a primary (1st grade) classroom, the other in a secondary classroom.
- Coach’s Cut- Think/Pair/Share: This video looks at a discourse routine in a primary classroom (1st grade). The routine seen in this video is appropriate for both primary and secondary classrooms across content areas.
- Student Discourse Videos from the Teaching Channel: These ACPS vetted videos from the Teaching Channel show various strategies and routines for discourse and are divided up into Pre-K, Primary and Secondary examples (with examples from both middle school and high school).