I’m looking for suggestions on how to have class discussions that are meaningful and help students with our learning goals, especially discussing current events or the results of our investigations. Sometimes it goes off-topic or students don’t listen to one another. —C., Virginia

Being able to discuss issues and ideas in a productive manner is important to the future endeavors of your students. Discussions, whether in small or large groups, can be used to focus and share student thinking in terms of summarizing, questioning, comparing/contrasting, making claims and arguments, brainstorming, decision making, and problem solving.

We may think students should know how to do this. But students may come with misconceptions about discussions. They may be used to the idea that a “discussion” means that the teacher asks questions and they respond. This teacher-led interrogation does not include student-to-student questions or in-depth conversations. Or consider what passes for “discussions” on television, where people shout, interrupt, ridicule, and engage in name-calling and other disrespectful and unproductive behaviors (not behaviors we want to encourage or reinforce in our classrooms!).

You may have realized you have to teach students to work cooperatively, take notes in a style related to the task, write informatively, and read science text. So it follows that students may need to learn how to discuss issues and ideas among themselves. As students mature, their interactions should change and the teacher’s input or level of control should decrease.

Some students may be reluctant to participate because of language issues. Some may feel insecure around their louder or more knowledgeable peers. Some students may have ideas to contribute but need support, encouragement, and feedback to participate.

Does your classroom physically support large-group discussions?

Desks or tables in rows may not be conducive to getting all students involved in peer-to-peer discussions: they can’t see each other’s faces, some students hide behind others so as not to participate, and teachers tend to focus on the students nearest to them. Try arranging the desks in a circle or open-U format. (You may have to practice with students to develop a routine for moving desks or tables efficiently.) Sitting in the circle with the students makes a powerful statement about the ownership of the conversation—the teacher is part of the discussion, not just an emcee or moderator.

Establish classroom norms for discussions. What kinds of behaviors or interactions are acceptable? Model the discussion behaviors you’d like your students to learn: attentive listening, wait time, courtesy, and how to channel enthusiasm or express disagreement positively. Resist the urge to “butt in” when the student says something incorrect or controversial. Ask other students to respond first. A question such as “What do you think?” “Do you have anything to add?” or “What did you conclude from this?” can encourage more students to participate.

Students may already have a page of “sentence starters” in their notebooks for written work. Perhaps a section on non-threatening conversation-starters or -continuers could be added: I’d like to know more about… Could you please repeat that? Why do you think that… Here’s what I think you said… What is your source? Can you give me another example? May I add to that? I agree/disagree with that because… Have you considered… I’m not quite sure what you mean.

Students can practice these behaviors in a Think-Pair-Share activity. Discussing ideas with a partner may help them to identify what they might want to say later in a large group. You could start by giving each student a brief reading on familiar or interesting content, such as a news article or website. In this way the students can focus on the process of discussion rather than the acquisition of information.

As students converse, whether in small groups or whole-class, observe what others are doing. Are they interested? Trying to get a word in? Left out?

Recognize that small-group discussions can be very spirited. Don’t worry about the noise level until and unless it gets to be a distraction or a disruption. Often teachers and students select an agreed-upon signal to tone down the noise level or stop the conversations to regroup as a class (e.g., flick the classroom lights, clap their hands, a small bell).

The November 2014 issue of Educational Leadership has articles related to talking and listening in the classroom. Several are available online without a subscription:

• Talking to Learn
• Now Presenting 
• Research Says: Get All Students to Speak Up

Explicitly Speaking, a recent article in Science and Children promotes scientific language and communications through awareness, modeling, supported practice, and integration.