Preparing Discussions to Build Literacy Skills and Rigor in the Virtual Classroom

Presenters: Crystal Chisum & Mary Beth Berrien

Thursday, 9:45 AM - 10:30 AM, MacDonough

Presentation Link

Oftentimes, it’s difficult to find an activity that checks many skills/literacy boxes. Not to mention also supporting the needs of various populations of students and maintaining an engaging and collaborative learning experience that is flexible and fits in both online “live” and asynchronous environments. Discussions are one way to do this, but having them be effective and check all of those boxes requires discussion preparation. This session will guide you through the 3 things students need in order to create a thoughtful and organized discussion post, strategies on guiding students to create meaningful replies, and tools teachers can use to make the discussion process effective and successful. We will look at incorporating literacy standards in reading, writing, listening and speaking through UDL, as well as practicing skills like close reading, supporting an argument with evidence, and research. Crystal (History/Ed. Tech.) will be presenting on the traditional approach through LMS platforms and Mary Beth (STE), will be presenting on the online discussion tool Parlay.