The San Diego County Office of Education has begun a beta site for disciplinary discussion cards for classroom pedagogical practice. Interestingly, the cards are split between Critical Reading and Disciplinary Thinking.
Critical Reading is defined as “questions are aligned to the Common Core Literacy standards. They are intended for students to explore the key ideas, details, craft, and structure of the text. There are also questions that help students integrate information into their own developing schema of the discipline’s field of study” (SD County Office of Education).
The second page of discussion cards for Disciplinary Thinking is defined as “questions to provide a lens for exploring and analyzing the text more formally. When used routinely, Disciplinary Thinking questions create habits of mind, a disciplinary lens through which students begin to see the world” (SD County Office of Education).
The single-subject matter discussion cards for classroom use can be helpful at assisting students as they begin their discussion journey in your classroom. The Assessment Tools for Improving Participation in Text-based Discussions has both formative self-assessments and peer assessments. Built on the frameworks of the Teaching & Learning Cycle and Making Thinking Visible, classroom teachers can print the discussion cards as is, or there is the editable Word doc that allows teachers to make adjustments to the cards and the language of instruction.
OutSpoken ELA 