WestEd’s Discussion Builders Workshop will prepare you to facilitate evidence-based instructional practices that foster academic conversations and build communication and reasoning skills in mathematics classrooms. The one-day workshop is ideal for K–8 teachers interested in helping students from diverse academic, linguistic, and cultural backgrounds learn from discussion-based lessons.
How We Help
In this workshop, you will
- learn ways to orchestrate productive discussions with all students, with specific guidance for teachers of multilingual learners;
- think about the role of language development in successful student learning and achievement; and
- practice facilitating productive discussions in mathematics and other content areas.
What’s included?
Participants receive one poster (English or Spanish) and a Teaching Guide appropriate to their grade level: K–1, 2–3, or 4–8:
- Discussion Builders posters are designed to support students in building their communication skills. Sentence stems on the posters provide students a scaffold for voicing their ideas and questions, expanding on their ideas or those of their peers, and valuing everyone’s contributions.
- A quick guide for teachers that explains how to get students talking—and thinking—more conceptually. This Teaching Guide is an excellent resource for introducing and sustaining the use of Discussion Builders in any subject area.
Learn more about Discussion Builders Workshops.
Service Delivery
- Onsite
Who Will Benefit
- School and district administrators
- K–8 teachers, including teachers of multilingual learners
Discussion Builders build deep, rigorous discussion among students and boost their use of academic language. When I was a principal in Stockton, California, I had my entire staff go through two days of training. It made a huge difference in how students engaged in all discussions.
— Susan Evans
Instructor, California State University Teacher Preparation
Featured Experts
José Franco
Connecting Research With Practice
The Discussion Builders Workshop provides an invaluable look inside productive mathematics classroom discussion. WestEd facilitators are deeply knowledgeable about effective teaching techniques based in research and how to coach educators to deliver practices that build strong academic conversations.
The Discussion Builders Workshop rationale and approach is strengthened through its connection to Math Pathways & Pitfalls, which has been shown to be successful with diverse learners in urban, rural, and suburban settings and is based on a solid research foundation.
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