Core Practice #2 is building a discourse community. Teachers should design and carry out interpersonal communication tasks for pairs, small groups, and whole class instruction. The most common type of classroom discourse is IRE or Intiation, Response, Evaluation. The teacher initiates a question, one student responds, and the teacher evaluates. In core practice number 2, the classroom discourse is more IRF, Initiation, Response, Follow up. In the IRF pattern the teacher or the students initiate a question, students can discuss with each other in a pair share activity before responding to the question, then the teacher follows up with an utterance or prompt that connects in some way and encourages elaborated responses. Students need direct instruction and modeling on how to interact appropriately. Here is a list of my favorite strategies for guiding interactions in the classroom, comprehensible input activities, and a copy of the team mat.
Strategies for Guiding Interactions
Comprehensible Comprehensible Input Activities
IRE, the most common interaction pattern.
Try moving to IRF, the ideal interaction pattern.
Graphics from:
http://www.faculty.londondeanery.ac.uk/e-learning/small-group-teaching/questioning-and-facilitation-techniques