5TH GRADERS HELPING PEERS DISCUSS TEXTS IN STUDENT-LED GROUPS

An investigation was conducted to determine how fifth graders with pri or experience in student-led literature discussions acted as ''knowled geable others'' for peers whose prior discussion experiences had been teacher led and grounded in a basal reading program, All of the studen ts were participating in Book Club, a literature-based reading program designed to support student-led discussions. Analysis, conducted indu ctively with categories emerging from the data, revealed that even wit hin the 1st month of working together, students adopted leadership rol es, participated in discussions exhibiting various interactional patte rns, and helped one another conduct their discussions. On the basis of the inquiry, it appears that students can facilitate one another's le arning, but the teacher has an important role in monitoring student di scourse and planning instruction that meets emerging needs.