The+Fishbowl

Submitted by: Chris Obitz Grade: 5-6 Lesson: The Fishbowl Standard(s): 3A Student demonstrates awareness of other people’s emotions and perspectives and 4B Student develops constructive relationships.

The Fishbowl is a method to explicitly teach a variety of social skills. It is one way to shine a light on the specific social skills that either move a discussion forward or shut it down. It is essentially a model where the class has an opportunity closely observe and learn from a social interaction. It can be used in any content area.

We often ask ourselves, “how can we possibly teach students to have thoughtful conversations, ask open-ended questions, to appreciate other students’ ideas, to put their ideas on the table?” For me, the fishbowl method is one way to approach this. In the main SEL Overview Plan, I’ve included a whole list of ideas to consider under the Direct Instruction construct. Most often, these ideas will be combined in one way or another. Any one of those skills listed under the direct instruction construct could be explicitly taught using the fishbowl method.

Note: this is a cooperative learning structure. It could be a small group discussion or a partner discussion. It is an investment in a process that I believe will yield more a productive, efficient, and engaging classroom environment down the road.

Lesson Steps: I. Before engaging in a fishbowl lesson, the goals or rubric should be outlined. • We may use our discussion goals (13A) as the target or a component of our working agreements (5A) or something specific from class we’ve noticed needs improving. • If you’ve noticed a pattern in the classroom that needs to be addressed, list the 2-4 goals on the board, and you’re ready to go. • Students must have an idea of what they’re shooting for. II. Whole group: discuss the goal(s) we will be focusing on. III. Give a thought provoking problem or question for all individuals to consider and work through privately. (this could be an article to read, a math model to build, a story problem to solve, a piece of artwork to consider, etc. etc…) Make sure students have a product or idea to share (notes, questions, solutions, etc.). This accountability is important since discussions are richer when participants have an investment in their ideas. IV. When you feel the students are ready to move on and share their ideas, announce that the class will be taking a “field trip” to observe a single team or partnership engage in a discussion of their ideas. • Again, the purpose of this is to model, practice, and closely assess a discussion so that in the future, students will understand the skills they need to independently participate in and lead productive discussions of their own. • The whole process of students moving in the classroom and positioning themselves around a team is also part of the lesson. Can everyone see? Can everyone hear? • Make sure the audience knows they will be held accountable for sharing their observations. I often use random or equity sticks (a cup of sticks with each student’s name on one) so as to increase audience accountability. • As students become more adept at the discussion process, the same fishbowl activity may be used to demonstrate quality discussions in regard to content. In other words, the content and the thinking may be more of the focus (the products rather than the process). Of course, the goal is for the content and discussion skills to both be goals at any given time, but we must develop the skills to get there. V. The class gathers around a team VI. Thank the team for being in the fishbowl and acknowledge their nerves due to the class observing. Then, remind students of the goals. This will vary depending on your class and where they are at in the process. An example of discussion goals might be: • Begin the conversation in a fair way • Make sure all voices are heard • Ask open ended questions • Invite team members into the conversation • Etc. etc. etc… VII. Remind the audience of their job as observers (note examples and non-examples from our rubric and any other observation they feel is important and be ready to share them – accountability) VIII. Have the team begin their discussion IX. Once the team has completed their discussion, allow them to assess themselves according to the established goals and any other things they notice. X. Ask the audience for comments. First, what did they notice they did well? Second, was there anything they could improve? XI. Final comments XII. Thank the fishbowl team or partners for their work. Keep your comments fairly neutral. Add any specific comments you feel the team or audience may have missed. XIII. Have students return to their own teams XIV. Introduce another problem and this time, each team works through the same process, with the reminder to think about and incorporate what they’ve just seen modeled.

This is an ongoing process and it takes time for students to develop the social skills necessary to have a thoughtful and sometimes disagreeable discussion. The fishbowl sheds light on those specifics and allows students to notice specific behaviors and skills that are either helpful or detrimental to the process.