Implementing Critical Conversations: Digging Deep into History and Thinking Critically about our World

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Implementing Critical Conversations Digging Deep
into History and Thinking Critically about our
World

• Danielle Hance Lake Murray Elementary, Chapin,
  SC
• dhance_at_lex5.k12.sc.us
• PhD Candidate- Language and Literacy- USC
• TAHSC Participant 2007, 2008-2011
• NBCT- Literacy
• October 24, 2008

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Critical Conversations What are they?

• You may have heard of Inquiry Discussions (Jr.
  Great Books), Seminar Dialogue (Paideia), or
  Socratic Seminar before
• Critical conversations are essentially the
  same thing.
• Our objective
• to get students to think critically, connect with
  history and the world around them, and engage in
  meaningful conversations.

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Critical Conversations What do they look like?

• All Students are engaged with one another.
• The conversation is rich and varied.
• They are exploring critical ideas deeply.
• The teacher is initially a coach and a
  part-time participant, and becomes an observer.

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Critical Conversations How do I begin?

• Determine a theme, concept, text, photograph,
  poem, painting etc. that you would like the
  students to discuss critically.

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Big Ideas

• You want to pick a topic that can be viewed
  from multiple angles and discussed critically.
• Consider the why and what if questions in
  history, as well as the injustices.

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Analyze together

• Spend time as a class analyzing the artifact
  and discussing it for understanding.

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Answer on paper

• Have them answer 2-3 critical thinking question
  on paper to prepare for the discussion.

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What should students know about engaging in
critical conversations?

• Students should be trained on how to
• Speak to the silence
• Connect to the previous speaker
• (I agree, I see what John meant by)
• Politely disagree
• (I see where John got that idea, but I
  thought)
• Participate but not dominate
• Engage with one another and not look to the
  teacher

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Fishbowl it!

• I would suggest using
• The fish bowl method
• The first time you
• engage in a critical
• conversation
• with your class.
• Half the class are participants and half are
  observers.

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Make it a habit!

• When this sort of discourse is taught it become
  habit!
• Students will begin to speak to the group,
  connect to others ideas, and think critically in
  other settings.

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My experiences

• I use a lot of picture books as a springboard
  to critical conversations.
• We tend to engage in a formal critical
  conversation at the end of a social studies unit.
  The conversation serves as a synthesis of all
  that we have studied through the lens of critical
  questions.

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I used to think But now I know
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Studying Japanese Internment Childrens
Literature
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Studying Japanese Internment Photographs
Ansel Adams created a book titled Born Free and
Equal, Photographs of the Loyal
Japanese-Americans at Manzanar Relocation Center
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Preparing for Conversation
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Now you try ?

• Review the preamble of the Constitution to jog
  your memory.
• Record your thinking to this question
• Is the Constitution an elitist document?

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• We the people of the United States, in order to
  form a more perfect union, establish justice,
  insure domestic tranquility, provide for the
  common defense, promote the general welfare, and
  secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and
  our posterity, do ordain and establish this
  Constitution for the United States of America.

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Questions or comments ?