Rita Jensen’s students encounter a new poem in their new language by Talking to the Text. We see close-up examples of their annotations and how this routine builds engagement and helps students identify reading problems and questions for collaborative investigation.

Linda Zarzana’s General Chemistry classroom is abuzz with inquiry. Her syllabus states that “My view of lecture time is to challenge your understanding of new information, and, more importantly, for you to grapple with this information along with your peers.” In this session, we see her 55 students engaging with the electrochemistry concepts they previously encountered through reading and lab, driving their understanding forward through questioning and collaborative sense-making.

Michele Lesmeister’s students range from high school students working on their diplomas to adult immigrants working on their English. In small groups and as a class, they push each other to read closely and defend their ideas with evidence from the text.

Many of the students in Gayle Cribb’s honors class are English learners or former English learners. All of them do the work of historians by grappling with primary sources, making text-based arguments, and helping each other think through reading challenges.

The students in Ericka Senegar-Mitchell’s class are weeks away from graduation. Many are heading directly into careers, with biotechnology high on the list. As students interview each other about a technical paper they have just taken up, we recognize a class in which confidence and competence have emerged from consistent challenge and support.

Will Brown’s Oakland high school students are profoundly inexperienced readers. But their teacher invites them to learn about acids and bases by asking questions, making connections, and noticing where the reading gets sticky. Then they problem solve.