Answer/Quote: “In order to
prove to your students the efficacy of class talk, try this: have the class
read a poem for homework, assigning a third of the class to return with two or
three questions they really want answered; assigning the next third to return
with pictures or objects (magazine cut-outs, drawings, collages, tactile things
and the like); assigning the last third to return with connections they have
made between the poem’s ideas and their personal lives: the similarities they
see between the poem and the contemporary world, the memories the poem
conjures. Questions, images, connections—these are the things that occur in our
minds as we read.”
Quote: “Discussion
begins with a volunteer reading the poem aloud. Then the students parade around
class showing their pictures or objects before individually explaining their
selections. The class may then question individuals. The next set of individuals
may offer their questions or connections to the class, spurring dialogue. That
is, class talk may begin anywhere.” P. 37.
Comment: A good method for turning the interpretation
of a poem over to the class, thus reducing the teacher’s participation in—I
almost said “domination” of-- the “discussion.” Believe me, I’m guilty of that kind of “discussion.” RayS.
Title: “Talk for the
Mind.” JI Tsujimoto. English Journal
(January 1993), 34-37.
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