One Step at a Time: Presentation 8

DISCUSSION SKILLS

Introduction

Initial Screen

Skills Checklist

Classroom Intervention

Lesson Planning

Teaching Method

Vocabulary Work

Monitoring Progress

Moving On

Links to Literacy

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Discussion Skills

INTRODUCTION

Discussion Skills

is a programme for developing thinking skills, social understanding and emotional literacy

It is intended for children aged 7 and over, and can be used with older children of any age, up to and including secondary school

If a significant number of children have not completed Narrative Skills, the class should do some Narrative Skills work before beginning Discussion Skills

Discussion Skills is expected to extend across at least two years but will still benefit all children if used for a single year

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Discussion Skills

INTRODUCTION

Discussion is:

a form of expanded conversation, requiring extended speaking and extended listening, but also tends to be more general and abstract

a highly effective but under-used method of teaching and learning

a way of developing children’s thinking skills, social understanding and emotional literacy, and the ability to direct and control their own learning

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Discussion Skills

INTRODUCTION

Discussion work:

is a valuable teaching tool in its own right

can be used to deliver any part of the curriculum

takes pressure off staff by allowing children to work independently

enables children to learn from and support each other

can boost the confidence and language skills of less able children

It need not be noisy or disruptive but does need to be introduced gradually through whole-class and partner work

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Discussion Skills

INITIAL SCREEN

The Initial Screen helps staff to:

‘tune-in’ to the relevant skills at this level of the programme

identify children’s current development of these skills

determine the amount of support they are likely to need

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Discussion Skills

INITIAL SCREEN

The Initial Screen identifies children as:

Competent: they seem to be acquiring these skills without too much difficulty and are not expected to need special attention

Developing: they seem to be slower in acquiring these skills and are likely to need some assistance and monitoring

Delayed: they seem to be having difficulty in acquiring these skills and are likely to need more intensive support and monitoring

These groupings are intended to be flexible and are likely to change in the course of a term or year.

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Discussion Skills

INITIAL SCREEN

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Discussion Skills

INITIAL SCREEN

While children are getting used to working in discussion groups the teacher can be observing them informally, focusing on the behaviours to be assessed

Working with a colleague if possible, the class teacher completes the initial screen for each child separately

A behaviour should only be credited if a child is using it confidently, competently and consistently. If there is any doubt or disagreement, the behaviour should not be credited

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Discussion Skills

INITIAL SCREEN

The screen has two bands, and children are assessed band by band. If they do not have all the behaviours in Band 1, they do not need to be assessed on Band 2

Children who lack any of the behaviours in Band 1 are identified as Delayed, even if they have some of the behaviours in Band 2

Children who have all the behaviours in Band 1 but lack any of the behaviours in Band 2 are identified as Developing

Children who have all the behaviours in both bands are identified as Competent

The Delayed group may include some children with special needs, but should not be thought of as a special needs group.

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Discussion Skills

SKILLS CHECKLISTS

Discussion Skills has three checklists:

Learning through Discussion

Planning and Problem Solving

Negotiation and Emotional Literacy

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Discussion Skills

SKILLS CHECKLISTS

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Discussion Skills

SKILLS CHECKLISTS

Each checklist identifies two or three general skills, divided into separate behaviours or sub-skills

Skills and behaviours are listed in rough developmental order as a guide to intervention

The teacher normally works through each checklist in sequence,

a few behaviours at a time

Every child and every behaviour needs to be assessed and monitored separately

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Discussion Skills

CLASSROOM INTERVENTION

Discussion skills are taught through a combination of whole-class, small-discussion and targeted intervention with individual children

The checklists set teaching objectives for all children on a rolling basis, while the initial screens determine the amount of support needed for each child

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Discussion Skills

CLASSROOM INTERVENTION: Whole-Class Work

Whole-class work is used to:

introduce and explain discussion work in general (what it is, why it is useful, how it works, what the rules are)

demonstrate and practise discussion work

introduce and explain each discussion topic

explain and demonstrate the specific aspects of discussion work currently being targeted

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Discussion Skills

CLASSROOM INTERVENTION: Discussion Groups

Children are assigned to discussion groups of up to six children on the basis of the initial screen. Using discussion work, it should be possible for all children to practise discussion skills almost every day

The teacher works with individual children in their discussion groups, paying particular attention to any children identified as Delayed, and helping them to develop specific behaviours

A list of the skills and behaviours currently being worked on should be displayed prominently, so all adults can use it to guide their interaction with individual children

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Discussion Skills

LESSON PLANNING

The skills checklists provide learning and teaching objectives for all children

Suggestions for discussion topics and questions are given in the Notes to the checklists

It should not at first be necessary to plan separate discussion lesson but these may be needed for later skills

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Discussion Skills

TEACHING METHOD

Parents normally teach their children spoken language (usually without realising they are doing it) by:

Highlighting: drawing attention to a word or behaviour by indicating or emphasising it

Modelling: providing an example for the child to copy

Prompting: encouraging him to respond, directing him towards an appropriate response

Rewarding: rewarding any appropriate response with praise and further encouragement

The teacher should use the same techniques, but use them explicitly and systematically.

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Discussion Skills

VOCABULARY WORK

Discussion Skills includes a Vocabulary Wordlist of 100 words that children will need to know for their discussion work: discussion vocabulary for Checklists 1 and 2, and the vocabulary of feelings and emotion for Checklist 3

Staff should ensure that all children are familiar with these words, by introducing and explaining them in whole-class work

They may need to teach some of these words systematically to some children

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Discussion Skills

MONITORING PROGRESS

Each child is monitored separately using the checklists. As each child acquires a behaviour or question form it gets ticked off on the checklist

A behaviour should only be credited when the child is using it confidently, competently and consistently. If there is any doubt about a behaviour, it should not be credited

The teacher needs to ensure that each behaviour has been properly consolidated, and should return later to any items that have proved difficult, to confirm that previous learning has been retained

It is always more important that children consolidate basic skills than that they move on to more advanced ones

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Discussion Skills

MOVING ON

The teacher normally keeps working on the same behaviours until all children have learnt them, but it may sometimes be necessary to move on to the next skills or the next checklist

She may sometimes be working on different skills with different children, but should not attempt to work on two checklists at the same time

Each checklist is expected to take more than a term to complete

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Discussion Skills

LINKS TO LITERACY

Discussion work supports both reading and writing:

It gives children something to write about and improves their understanding of what they read

It can be used to share and develop ideas for both independent writing and comprehension work

It promotes the use and understanding of information sources

It can help children to reflect on what and how they read and write.

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