The TQE Method

Today was one of the good days.  Actually, today was one of the GREAT days - the best kind of days to be a teacher.  The kind of day where birds are singing and you can't keep the bounce from your step.

There are so many days that are tough.  So many moments when you wonder just WHAT you have to do to get the love of learning embedded into those minds.  But it is all worth it for the days like today.

Yup, the birds are still singing 😍

So, what's all this about?  Well, it is all thanks to Jennifer Gonzalez and her podcast The Cult of Pedagogy - and to her amazing guest Marisa Thompson.  Marisa shared her TQE Method on the podcast, and I could hardly contain my excitement as I visualized how well this would work in Room 1113. Between my personality, my students need to have excitement in reading discussions rewoken, and the fact that we were about to embark on a novel using flipped reading, this podcast made me hurry home (I was listening on my nightly walk) to open up my calendar and figure out how it could be used - where and when.  I could hardly wait!

So, what's the excitement?

In some ways it could be considered a simple way to have students share their reading, with a catchy moniker to add a certain cachet.  But it is so much more.  I had non-readers responding, typically silent students itching to talk, and I heard Room 1113 filled with reasoning about just WHY the author had made certain decisions.  Wait!  What was happening?  I was watching my sixth graders, who just last week had struggled with central idea, discoursing about author purpose and tone and mood!

OK, so enough with the build-up!

Thoughts, Questions, & Epiphanies
Room 1113 gets to work!

Here is the simple premise.  Over the last few days we talked about thoughts about reading, questions that readers may have, and how when you are reading you might have epiphanies - especially when some of those thoughts and questions were answered as the book was read.  The students were issued their books and given a reading assignment.  They had to complete a short reflection in Google Classroom - and it was all due this morning before school.

I should note - the school provides a class set.  I've had enough of never having enough books, not being able to let students read when they want.  I'm done with not being able to get to read the entire book in class as the pesky pacing plan always interrupts our flow.  This year, I wanted it to be different.  I shopped and searched and was able to add books to our supply.  I had even one parent donate 4 books.  Between students getting their own copy, the school copies, and mine...EVERY SINGLE STUDENT was able to take ownership of his/her reading.  In addition, our ELA collaborative group created audio recordings of each chapter so that students could be supported in their reading - especially our ESOL and other struggling kiddos.

Back to the TQE.

Our whiteboard is consistently covered in messages, our Question of the Day, and our reading recommendations, so I put big sheets of white paper over the boards, titling one THOUGHTS, one QUESTIONS, and one EPIPHANY!  As the students walked in, they saw the message on the board - they had 8 minutes to get in groups and come up with a thought, question, or epiphany from chapters 1-5 of The Island on Bird Street by Uri Orlev.

The groups were self-selected (other than that ONE class.  There's always one class....that class had special grouping created, including the group that I was in!).  I immediately saw that this was going to work.  How could I tell?

• When that one student who doesn't talk was bubbling over with a question.
• When my ESOL student who never shares was standing at the board writing.  
• When the students weren't bouncing on their stability balls but were seriously leaning over their book copies....

But that was only the beginning.

Following Marisa's feedback. I helped the students to talk through their thinking and to help them to better their questions by relating back to author craft and just WHY the author made that decision.

I heard my ESOL student suggesting that Uri Orlev (the author) had started the book with the father teaching his son how to work a pistol was to get our attention and build interest.  YES!

I heard a typically quiet student suggested that the author knew that we would infer that Alex's mom was a concentration camp, so making it feel even worse that Alex didn't know what had happened to her...

I watched the thinking, the reactions, the responses, the follow-ups.

It was great.  It was perfect.

Can we extend and deepen? Of course! Could the questions and thoughts have been deeper?  Naturally.  Are we struggling with epiphany? Sure. But these sixth graders really grew - and when we reflected, were all thrilled with this new way of discussing the book. The handful who had not read the book were abashed and disappointed with themselves. Today, I let them stay, because I wanted them to see the process. Next week non-readers will go outside to read while the rest of us discuss.

I wish that we could do this more often. Oh, for block schedules that would allow reading AND discussion on the same day.  But that's a dream and discussion for another day!  My kiddos rocked and rolled it today.  Room 1113 was full of academic discourse and literary discussion.

Yes.  Birds are still singing!

If you want YOUR birds to sing and to hear the full details of the method, listen to the podcast episode here:  Deeper Class Discussions with the TQE Method