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For each strategy, you’ll find a list of other names it sometimes goes by, a description of its basic structure, and an explanation of variations that exist, if any. These are smaller techniques that can be integrated with other instructional strategies and don’t really stand alone. The last group is the ongoing strategies. Note that these are not strict categories it’s certainly possible to simplify or add more meat to any of these structures and still make them work. Next come the low-prep strategies, which can be used on the fly when you have a few extra minutes or just want your students to get more active. The first batch contains the higher-prep strategies, formats that require teachers to do some planning or gathering of materials ahead of time. I’ve separated the strategies into three groups. If you’ve struggled to find effective ways to develop students’ speaking and listening skills, this is your lucky day. So here they are: 15 formats for structuring a class discussion to make it more engaging, more organized, more equitable, and more academically challenging. But when teachers began contacting me recently asking for a more comprehensive list, I knew it was time to do some serious research. They didn’t know any other “formats.” I have only ever been familiar with a few myself.
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The problem wasn’t them in most of the classrooms where they’d sat as students, that’s exactly what a class discussion looked like.
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PARTICIPANTS IN A FORMAL DISCUSSION USE LANGUAGE THAT IS FREE