Disciplinary Literacy Virtual Library > Self-Paced Learning Modules

Module 4:  A Deeper Look at Productive Dialogue

Lessons are designed for educators wishing to increase their understanding of disciplinary literacy at their own pace.

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Lesson 4.1:  Introduction—What is Productive Dialogue?

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Lesson 4.2:  Disciplinary Literacy in Action—Productive Dialogue

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Lesson 4.3:  Strategies for Productive Dialogue in the Classroom

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Lesson 4.4:  Planning for Productive Dialogue in Your Classroom

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Lesson 4.5:  A Disciplinary Literacy Concept Map Revisited

Lesson 4:2:  Disciplinary Literacy in Action - Productive Dialogue

 Task 1: Assessing Speaking and Listening in the Classroom

Examine each of the following sample rubrics for assessing speaking and listening in the classroom.  How does each support your current understanding of productive dialogue?

• Saluda County Schools Common Core Discussion Rubric
• Literacy Design Collaborative Argumentation Teaching Task Rubric
• The Brooklyn Latin School Seminar Rubric 
• Informal Speaking and Listening Rubric

Bibliography for Sample Rubrics

Select one of the sample rubrics for measuring productive dialogue in the classroom to use as you view the classroom videos in task 2 and task 3.

Task 2:  A Virtual Classroom Visit:  8th Grade Science

View the video of Angela Greer’s 8th grade science classroom.  As you visit the 8th grade science classroom of Angela Greer, use the selected rubric to assess the dialogue among the students in her classroom.

What seem to be the strengths of Mrs. Greer’s students related to productive dialogue?  What seem to be some areas of growth for Mrs. Greer’s students related to productive dialogue?

Task 3:  A Virtual Classroom Visit:  8th Grade Mathematics

View the video of Casey Davis’ 8th grade Algebra 1 classroom.  As you visit the 8th grade mathematics classroom of Casey Davis, use the selected rubric to assess the dialogue among the students in her classroom.

What seem to be the strengths of Mrs. Davis’ students related to productive dialogue?  What seem to be some areas of growth for Mrs. Davis’ students related to productive dialogue?

Task 4:  Disciplinary Literacy Strategy--Proof Paragraph

Proof Paragraph is a structured writing strategy to focus students on using evidence based statements to support their claims.  A Proof Paragraph has the following structure:

• Topic Sentence:  Makes an assertion or claim.
  
• Evidence #1:  Statement of evidence #1 and explanation of how it supports the assertion or claim.
• Evidence #2:  Statement of evidence #2 and explanation of how it supports the assertion or claim.
• Evidence #3:  Statement of evidence #3 and explanation of how it supports the assertion or claim.
• Conclusion Sentence:  Refers to the assertion or claim and evidence to provide closure. 

Sample Proof Paragraph (Question:  Is chewing important for digestion?):

Chewing is indeed important for digestion.  Since chewing food breaks it down into smaller pieces, enzymes in the saliva have more access to the particles because of the increase in the surface area of the pieces of food.  Chewing food more frequently increases the amount of saliva which helps move food through the digestive tract.  In addition, chewing allows the body to extract more nutrients and reduces the amount of undigested food that the body has to eliminate as waste.  These are the reasons I think that while chewing is simple, it is no less a very important first step in the process of digestion. 

Use evidence from the two virtual classroom visits to write a Proof Paragraph to answer the following question:  “Does productive classroom dialogue support student understanding of mathematics and science concepts?”

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