Deconstructing a Discussion Thread Post

 

Discussion posts can be particularly troublesome for struggling students.  It is typically because they are being asked for their opinion or their thoughts about how a particular topic applies to a certain situation.  This is double trouble for a student that is not a confident learner.  The first task of having to share their opinion on a topic can be enough to shut down operations.  This is typically because, this “type” of student has learned over time that their answers are never or rarely completely right.  A teacher almost always needs to “fix” what they are doing or saying at some point.  This can chip away at the student’s confidence and have the child think that their opinions are not good enough on their own.   

Average to above average students have experiences in which their work is critiqued and corrected as well.  However, they also have several assignments that need minimal revisions sprinkled in.  These experiences have a profound effect to keep self-esteem boosted appropriately.  They are able to effectively keep perspective.  They understand that some of their work will  need a lot of revision and other pieces will need minimal revision.  This is normal and it should not knock them off of their game.  

Break It Down

The first step to deconstructing a discussion thread post is to break it up into manageable parts. 

  

 Consider the following prompt:

Professional athletes and a-list celebrities get paid millions of dollars. Do they deserve to get paid as much as they do? Some argue that they do not do enough to earn that money or that it could be put to much better use. Others think they should be rewarded for their talent.

As I have shared in my Deconstructing Writing Prompts article, I recommend changing the font and/or color of the key points and areas that the student is to focus on in the discussion post.   The purpose of picking out the key points is to get the student’s emotions engaged and focus these emotions and thoughts towards addressing the prompt. 

Discussion thread topics can bring about very emotional responses.  Critical topics such as:  addressing the topic, stating opinion clearly and including factual basis to support the opinion must be taught to keep kids on track.   

Students should also be prepared for challenges to their opinions.  They must learn to accept questions and challenges, gather any additional information and respond in a respectful and articulate way. 

In addition to accepting challenges to their thinking, students need to be taught how to appropriate challenge other people's thinking.  In order to keep the conversation going, responses to posts need to be respectful, informational, and thought provoking.  This is a very difficult skill for children and adults because we, of course, think our way is the right way just “because we know that it is!”.  

Organizing Ideas

As all of the ideas are flowing and being generated, it is helpful to put them in some form or structure.  I have shared my template for a discussion topic here:

Depending on the level of the student, your template will contain more or less prompts for information.  The activity should always set students up for success.  This may mean that their responses are very scripted in the beginning. The teacher would write up a pre-prepared response and remove a handful words.  If necessary, I would recommend including those and other words in a word bank that is included on the page for the student to refer to.  

With proper supports and models, students will pick up on this system quickly.  Eventually, the teacher will not need to have as many supports in place for them to write a response on their own.  We just need a template, like the one above, to get them into the routine and show them that they do have the skills necessary to do this and it is not as overwhelming as they think!

Happy deconstructing!

Colleen