A Silent Discussion

A silent discussion...I know it sounds weird, but they are amazing.  Today we got to a crucial part of the One and Only Ivan.  Stella one of our main characters had passed away in her sleep and Ivan had made a promise to Stella that he was going to take care of the baby elephant Ruby.

I did not want the class to just briefly pass over this part of the book so I decided to slow things down and have a silent conversation.  A silent conversation is just what it sounds like.  Students have a conversation with their table and communicate through writing.  The room is silent but filled with conversation.  

I love these silent conversations for lots of reasons but reason number one is the students get to decide what they are going to talk about for the conversation.  Instead of me saying I want you to talk about this part of the book the students could pick any part of the book they wanted to discuss.  Most of our students decided to concentrate on what had just happened.  Then the papers are passed around the table and each student adds on to the conversation.  The papers make their way around the table and the students make the conversation "snowball" by trying to add more ideas each time they write. 

I was astonished at the work the students were able to produce.  Some groups talked about whether or not Ivan would be able to keep his promise.  Other groups talked about Mack, the owner of the Exit 8 Big Top Mall, and whether or not it was his fault that Stella was gone.  Another group talked about whether or not Ruby would be able to handle this event because she had already lost her family earlier in the book.

When we were all done students picked their favorite conversation thread from the ones they had at their table and shared them with the rest of the class.  This really allowed us to slow down and talk about this section of the book.  It did take a good deal of time but I thought it was so important to take this time and let students share what they were thinking about the book.