In a multicase study, adolescents at five culturally diverse sites across the United States engaged in face-to-face interactions as they reflected and reported on their perceptions of their own and other students' experiences in discussing regularly assigned content area texts. A social constructionist perspective provided the framework for the research. Data sources included three rounds of videotaped class discussions followed by three focal group interviews, field notes, theoretical memoranda, and student artifacts. Data collections and analysis were ongoing over the course of one school year. A procedure for involving the researchers at all five sites in analyzing common sets of data generated findings that suggest students are: (1) aware of the conditions they believe to be conducive to good discussions; (2) knowledgeable about the different tasks and topics that influence their participation; and (3) cognizant of how classroom discussion helps them understand what they read. By focusing on students' insights into their own actions, thoughts, and motives related to classroom talk about texts, it was possible to make visible their negotiation of different roles and relations, rights and responsibilities, and norms and expectations in peer-led and whole class discussions. (Contains 45 references, 3 figures, and 2 tables of data. An appendix presents a narrative vignette.) (Author/RS)