Planning and facilitating social studies discussions can be challenging, rewarding, and rewarding because it is challenging! Luckily, there are a number of resources available online that speak to the many facets of this work – designing questions, finding sources, introducing norms, choosing a discussion structure, scaffolding participation, and facilitating discourse. The resources below address all of these issues. We encourage you to dive deeply into those that align most closely with your goals and beliefs as a teacher.
Planning Discussion Lessons
Discussions depend on a central question students investigate using shared resources as evidence. These resources can help you hone your questions as well as find curricular resources with pre-made document sets:
- An Introduction to Shared Inquiry (Great Books Foundation) includes supports for types of inquiry questions and how to write interpretive questions (pp. 9-13). Jenni Conrad and Jennifer Gallagher also articulate a four-step process for designing critical inquiry questions.
- Case studies and controversial public issues document sets for deliberations: Justice In Schools Case Studies; Classroom Deliberations (C-SPAN)
- Primary and secondary source document sets for historical inquiry discussions: Digital Inquiry Group; OER Project; Read. Inquire. Write.; Teaching with Primary Sources (Library of Congress); The Zinn Education Project
Creating a Safe Classroom Environment
Making intentional choices to set up a safe, respectful environment for discussion is also important. You might consult these resources for discussion norms:
- “Building a Culture of Discussion in Social Studies Classrooms” (LaKethia White, inquirED); https://www.academically-productive-talk.org/getting-started page
- For controversial issues discussions, you consider Framework for Teaching Controversial Issues (Judith Pace)
Choosing Discussion Structures
Employing different discussion structures, like fishbowls or structured academic controversies, can help. Teachers can consider these articles for choosing among discussion structures: Choosing between deliberations, structured academic controversies, and debates (McAvoy et al.) or see a menu of deliberation activities (C-SPAN). For resources about specific discussion structures:
- Socratic Seminars (Facing History and Ourselves); Socratic Seminars Strategy Guide (Read Write Think)
- “What Is the Structured Academic Controversy” (The Discussion Project); Structured Academic Controversies (Teachinghistory.org)
- “Document-Based Whole-Class Discussion” (Reisman, Teachinghistory.org)
Facilitating Student Sensemaking
As the dilemmas on our website show, facilitating discussions is hard. Teachers need to make in-the-moment decisions which elevate student-centered discourse while also scaffolding their learning. The following resources can help for how teachers can make discussion moves that scaffold and facilitate sensemaking:
- How to Facilitate Discussions in History (Reisman, ASCD)
- Facilitating Academically Productive Talk
- Thinking Routines (Project Zero)
- Accountable Talk Sourebook (University of Pittsburgh)
- Accountable Discussions (Teacher Toolkit)
- Sustaining Student Discourse (DISCUSS)
- For strategies facilitating discussions of controversial issues: “When the Discussion Heats Up” Discussion Strategies (Universities of Wisconsin)