In this session, teachers will create content-specific chat mats to engage your students in analytic dialogue. Via peer discussion, students will gain a deeper level of understanding of your chosen topic while using academic language to support their assertions. These chat mats can further assist English language learners to construct complex sentences with evidence in order to more fully confidently participate in conversation on abstract concepts.
Session Objectives: Teachers will be able to: 1. Create a chat mat on a self-selected, content-relevant topic that includes: a) Questions with differing DOK levels b) Subject-specific vocabulary c) Syntactic elements 2. Employ these chat mats with students to facilitate partner or small group class discussions