Pair Share

This discussion strategy is ubiquitous because it is grounded in relationality – students talking to the person next to them– and offers time and space for students to process what they are learning, which can be extended by surfacing the many ideas of class members.

To Prepare

Copy any text from the anthology. In this example, we focus on a Just Love selection. There is a digital version online, but you can also take a picture of the book and share it with students via the learning management system (Canvas, Google Classroom). If you have printers in your school, you can make a copy for each student to tape into their notebook.

Launch the Lesson

In the National Writing Project style, we suggest beginning each class with a “write into the day.”. Give the student a few prompts so they have some choices as to what to write about. If you are reading from Just Love, you might ask them to write from 3 modes:

Information: Define love;

Argument: Take a stand on the phrase “I love X” and if people are too loose with this word;

Narrative: Write a time you fell in love – with a person, a pet, food, etc. Take us into the moment through dialogue and sensory language.

Set the time for 5 minutes and use your writing norms. We like “no walk, no talk” so that everyone protects that writing space. You can have students write in their paper or digital notebook. We like paper notebooks because it is a break from technology. As always follow any accommodations students need.

Reading from Just YA

Select a text from the Just Love section so that you can keep the theme going from the write-in. Pass out the story– in paper form or digitally. These texts are short enough to read multiple times, so try a few different ways:

Read it silently, independently and notice what you notice. Invite students to highlight or annotate favorite lines, words that sound good to them, ideas that resonate, questions that emerge. Very broad.

Teacher read-aloud. Before you read it aloud, be sure to read it to yourself and that you know the pronunciation and rhythm. This will make for a fluent reading of the story, and students can enjoy the sound as much as the ideas.

Guided reading. Invite students to make a t-chart in their notebook. Ask students to predict what the text will be about based on the title. Read the first chunk and unpack the key who, what, where, when to monitor student reading. Read on to notice the author’s craft (metaphor, simile, line breaks, dialogue) and consider why. Read on to the ending and consider the so what or what the author’s commentary on humanity or the genre or the thematic topic might be.

Get Moving: Stand and Talk

Get students’ bodies moving by sending partners to various corners of the room to stand and talk about their write-in and the text. Project on the board this question:

Which mode did you write about today regarding Just Love (or any other theme) and how would the author/narrator of today’s text respond to that prompt? Give evidence from the text to support your response.

For fun, you can suggest the partner whose birthday is closest to today’s date respond first. The teacher’s role during this time is to move around the room listening, maybe taking some notes.

Closure

After 5 or so minutes bring the class together and synthesize what you heard, asking various partners to share out themes and insights around love, and what is “just” or justice oriented about the student write-ins and the author’s short text on this subject.

Note: You can repeat this lesson with any of the themes (e.g., being, land, world, futures) and/or specific writing forms (e.g., poem, flash fiction, essay).