Preparing Learners: Activating Prior Knowledge Final Program Transcript

Park-Friend: So good morning guys. Welcome.

Park-Friend (INT): My name is Emily Park-Friend. I work at Bruce Randolph School and I teach seventh grade literacy skills. Almost all of my students are English language learners. Maybe two students are native English speakers.

Park-Friend: The first thing we're gonna do today is do our three-step interview where you're gonna be interviewing your classmates about some questions.

Aida Walqui: In this lesson you see students working through a structure that was originally designed by Spencer Kagan, and it's a structure in which the teacher frames two questions that are going to prepare students to get thinking - activating prior knowledge - that will then serve as the basis for constructing new understandings. And it takes place in three steps.

Park-Friend: So look up here….

Park-Friend (INT): We moved into the three-step interview. So I gave students instructions on how they would interview their classmates and who they would be interviewing.

Park-Friend: I'm gonna put you in a group of four. So if you're in your group, there will be an A, B, C, and D. A, you're gonna interview B. C is gonna interview who? D. That's it. It's gonna be really important that you listen to their answer because you're gonna share out later what they said. You're not gonna tell your own story. You're gonna tell their story. So that's step 1. The next step, you switch. So if [student] is my partner and I'm A and he's B, step 1 I interview him, step 2, he interviews me. Asks me the same questions. Kay? And then step 3. Each student reports what they learn from their partner to the entire group of four, and we'll review that step again when we're done with 1 and 2.

Park-Friend (INT): Students were working in groups asking each other about a memorable argument they had had before and whether or not they were able to convince someone of something.

Park-Friend: What does it mean if an argument is memorable Derrick?

Student: You can remember it.

Park-Friend: You can remember it. The second question, can you read that one for me please Effrain?

Aida Walqui: The lesson begins with the teacher inviting students to share instances in which they've had to persuade somebody to do something. And that is an important step because persuasion may be taught in a class as something that is really remote and that you know, we're going to learn these persuasive texts and everybody thinks it's something not real, not personal, when in fact all of us are engaged in acts of persuasion all the time.

Student: Were you able to convince the other person you were arguing with about anything?

Park-Friend: What's convince mean?

Student: To persuade.

Park-Friend: Persuade. So did you win, right? Did you get them to get on your side? And then the third question, was the person you were arguing with able to convince you?

Student: Was the person you were arguing with able to convince you of anything? If so, how did this happen? If not, why do you think it did not?

Student: Uh, well, my, my mom said that if I did, if I did, um, get a dog I have to clean all his stuff and give them food and buy everything for him. So yeah. That's why. And my mom convinced herself because I cleaned my room. And he can sleep there.

Park-Friend: We've all interviewed. A, you've interviewed B and C, you've interviewed D. Now we're gonna switch.

Student: What is the most memorable argument you have ever been in?

Student: When me and my brother were fighting over what channel to watch.

Student: Were you able to convince the other…

Park-Friend (INT): The interviews went well. Something like that that was multi-step, it has a lot of specific directions, could be confusing for students, but they seem to pick it up very quickly and be able to just run with it.

Park-Friend: In your group of four, decide who's gonna go first, and you're gonna share out your partner's story. We're not commenting on the stories until everyone has shared.

Student: A memorable argument that Effrain had was what car to get. He was able to convince another person to buying a, a different car, because they, he had good arguments about why the other car was better.

Aida Walqui: It's a very powerful strategy because in a matter of three or four minutes all students have asked for information, all students have had to listen to and understand information that has been given to them and all students have had to report information. So there are three very different communicative functions that are practiced in a short time.

Park-Friend: Why do you think I asked you to share about an argument you had before?

Student: To see if we were listening correctly.

Park-Friend: To practice listening with a partner? Right. So we've been reading persuasive texts. People who are masters of persuasion, but I know we have some masters of persuasion in here too, right?

Park-Friend: Today I thought went well and I was also impressed with the level of conversation that many students were having.

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