Talking, thinking, and understanding go hand in hand. This colorful Discussion Builders poster helps students learn through active participation in classroom discussion.

The K-1 poster and teaching guide are designed to nurture a community of learners with the goal of shared understanding. “I’d like to build on Juanita’s idea!” “I’m confused about Oscar’s idea.” Effective classroom discussions occur when students understand how to verbalize their ideas, integrate others’ notions, raise questions, and build on the topic at hand. Sentence stems on the poster provide students with a scaffold for voicing their ideas, questions, and thinking processes.

The poster is a powerful tool for helping students–including English language learners–present, expand, and reflect on important ideas. The accompanying teaching guide includes tasks and blackline masters for introducing and sustaining the use of Discussion Builders in any subject area.

This poster for grades K-1 is one in a set of three. Posters and teaching guides for grades 2-3 and grades 4-8 incorporate increasingly more sophisticated language and thinking across the grades.

Posters can be ordered individually or as a set.

Participate in our one-day Discussion Builders Workshop, which will further enhance your ability to lead effective discussions that boost collaborative and respectful critical thinking among your students.