Instructional Conversation
 
"Talk, Talk, Talk: 
Discussion-Based Classroom"
Ann Cook and Phyllis Tashlik

Introduction:
Starts out with a question about why 
discussion is so rare?  Challenges the 
traditional thinking about classroom discussions.  
Pushes for a premium on classroom-based discussions.

Chapter 1:
Defining Discussion

Chapter 2:
Overview of accompanying Film with Text

Chapter 3:
Charts and Lists of Differences between an Information-Based Classroom
& a Discussion-Based Classroom

Chapter 4:
Organizing classrooms around discussion
-Time
-Teacher's Role
-Inquiry

Chapter 5:
Techniques and Tools that Develop and Support Discussions
-Mantras "No personal Attacks" and "What is your evidence?"
-Opening Questions and the "Sort"
-Panels
-Video Clips
-Debates
-Conversations

-The List: Keeping Track of Discussion
-Notetaking
-Speaking as a Tool for Writing
-Devil's Advocate position
-Student to Student Conversation
-Discussion in Math Classes

Chapter 6:
How Can Students Be Prepared for Discussion

Chapter 7:
How Can Teachers Be Prepared to Lead Discussion

Chapter 8:
What Are the Particular Difficulties of Teaching a Discussion-Based Class?
-Tolerating Ambiguities
-Not Knowing All The Answers
-Living With Silence
- Relinquishing Closure
-Adjusting For Class Size
-Counteracting the Pressures of High Stakes Testing

Appendix:
Sample Teacher's Notes from a Social Studies Class
Discussion Topic: Two Different Author's Perspectives on the Civil War

Sample Teacher's Notes from an English Class
Discussion Topic: Opening Discussion About Ghetto Literature