Questioning The Author: Discussion Moves

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Marking
Drawing attention to an idea that has come up in order to emphasize its importance.

Example:

Student: "Grandfather makes excuses for coyote, so he doesn't feel too badly about coyote."
Teacher: "Oh, so Grandfather actually makes excuses for coyote he actually likes coyote."

Turning Back To Students
Turning responsibility back to students for thinking through and figuring out ideas.

Example:

Student: "Grandfather is trying to tell Antonio that coyotes chase each other and play games and dance."
Teacher: "Dancing, playing games--how does that connect with what Grandpa said about coyote before?"

Turning Back To Text
Turning students' attention back to the text as a source for clarifying their thinking.

Example:

Student: "I dont think that coyote means to scare anyone."
Teacher: "What did the author tell us about coyote that connects to Samantha's suggestion?"

Revoicing
Interpreting what students are struggling to express and rephrasing the ideas so that they can become part of the discussion.

Example:

Student: "Because they needed jobs. Some of them weren't born here and they didn't have anything to do and they need money to provide for their family and get a roof over their head."
Teacher: "So they were coming to look for a job because they needed the money to live."

Modeling
Making public some of the processes in which readers engage in the course of reading.

Example (affective response):

Teacher: "Oooh, let me read that again, 'The army marched up the hill in perfect rows slowly, deliberately, and determined to win this battle and place their flag upon it in victory.' That sentence really lets me picture what is happening. I can imagine how set they were on winning this battle."

Example (response to confusing text):

Teacher: "What could the author mean by 'it's hard to enjoy a supper of rocks and sand'? The coyote can’t really eat rocks and sand, so this is a little confusing. I guess the author is talking about how food can be hard to find for the coyote; it seems like all he has around him is rocks and sand which of course he can't eat. So the author is really saying coyote is in danger of starving, he's pretty desperate, so that might explain why he's causing so much trouble."

Annotating
Providing information to fill in gaps or point out sources of confusion in a discussion (filling in information gaps and/or pointing out sources of confusion).

Recapping
Reviewing and highlighting the major ideas and understandings learned so far.