Discussion Techniques in 8th Grade Math

8th Grade Math

Devin Silva & Dennis Virga

Problem Identified: Students in the identified group have writing deficits, primarily lack of elaboration or lack of precision

Hypothesis: If we use small group discussion as an entry point for writing about content, then tracked students’ scores will improve, based on rubric scoring.

Data Collection:

Actionable Step: When planning to have students respond to a prompt in writing, engage in a protocol of write-discuss-revise. Students will expand and refine their thoughts by sharing with peers, and return to their writing to lock it in.

Overall Findings/Impact: Our actionable step was generalized enough that we could apply it to any different content. In general, strong writing in math is succinct and precise. Students’ response showed improvements in these criteria with increased discussion time. Given that the identified students are low-performing in the content area, these discussions required a high degree of teacher moderation and responses ended up being quite convergent.