Today we are going to talk about increasing the ratio of student discourse and discussion in your classroom. This is an important topic. We want students participating in discussions and we want 100% of the students participating. There are several strategies to help make this happen. Doug Lemov uses a great saying in Chapter 9 of Teach Like a Champion, 2.0. he says that the "mental workout belongs to the students". Today we will peruse increasing this workout using the strategies "Turn and Talk" and sentence starters (or sentence stems), then, we will talk about strategies to make this run smoother in your classroom.
Here are some things to think about.
1. Have a vision about what Turn and Talk will look like in your classroom. What are the fundamentals? How will students be grouped or paired? How will they sound, what is the acceptable volume? What is the expectation for how students look at each other?
2. Train the students and practice. The first Turn and Talks might be messy, share your expectations and share with students what you expect it to look like and sound like.
3. Timed or untimed? Decide the timing. You have choices to tell students that you are giving them 2 minutes to talk, or you can listen for when the crest of students voices occurs and call them back to your attention.
4. If I haven't already shared this, tell your students exactly how Turn and Talk will look and sound like. Will just one kid talk and the other listen? Will both kids get a chance to talk?
Example:
1. give each kid a letter, like A or B... A talks to be B, and B only listens, then switch next time.
2. give each kid a letter, like A or B, A talks to B and then B talks to A
3. be creative with kids, use different monikers
It's important to set students up for success and let them know your expectations, otherwise, they will just make up their own.
5. Have a cue, the word "go" is very powerful to let students know when it is time to start. It is quite simply saying, "When I say go, A's turn and talk to B's about the formation of igneous rocks for 27 seconds... Go!"
6. How many of you have had to think about something complicated and it helped your thinking by writing it down? You can level up the depth of the conversations, by having students down their thinking and then share what they wrote with one another in the Turn and Talk.
7. Sentence stems and sentence starters. If you choose to have students write first, consider using sentence stems. Here is an example from 8th grade science:
8. Have the students communicate with Complete Sentences. This strategy comes from the book, 38 Great Academic Language Builders. This allows students to practice using rigorous academic vocabulary. The more they speak in complete sentences, the easier it becomes to write with complete sentences. I love this thought, that students can write and then speak or speak and then write and it all helps students build their capacity in your subject area. LOVE IT.
Examples students can use to write and turn and talk.
The question... What are two characteristics of primary consumers?
The answer... Two characteristics of primary consumers are....
9.Cue for bringing the class back to whole group... How will you get the class back fast?
10. What will you do with the information that was written and shared with partners? You can use sentence starters here too. When you get students to share their discussions, stretch the whole group discussion by getting students to say, "I agree because or I disagree because, or I would like to add"
I think the biggest fear about allowing students to talk with one another is the fear that they students won't really talk about what they are supposed to talk about. Heck, I have been in training when adults don't talk about what they are supposed to talk about. So, frame your expectations, walk around and listen, be visible, frame the time students have, share examples of what you heard, celebrate when students do what is expected and finally have body language that shows you are rooting for students to have great shares (burning shares).
Here are some video examples to watch...
Using a Sentence Starter:
Lemov, D. (2011). Teach like a champion: the complete handbook to master the art of teaching. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
Seidlitz, J., & Kenfield, K. (2011). 38 Great academic language builders: activities for math, science, social studies, language arts... and just about everything. San Clemente, CA.: Seidlitz Education.
Lemov, D. (2011). Teach like a champion: the complete handbook to master the art of teaching. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
Seidlitz, J., & Kenfield, K. (2011). 38 Great academic language builders: activities for math, science, social studies, language arts... and just about everything. San Clemente, CA.: Seidlitz Education.
Lemov, D. (2011). Teach like a champion: the complete handbook to master the art of teaching. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
Seidlitz, J., & Kenfield, K. (2011). 38 Great academic language builders: activities for math, science, social studies, language arts... and just about everything. San Clemente, CA.: Seidlitz Education.
Lemov, D. (2011). Teach like a champion: the complete handbook to master the art of teaching. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
Seidlitz, J., & Kenfield, K. (2011). 38 Great academic language builders: activities for math, science, social studies, language arts... and just about everything. San Clemente, CA.: Seidlitz Education.
Lemov, D. (2011). Teach like a champion: the complete handbook to master the art of teaching. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
Seidlitz, J., & Kenfield, K. (2011). 38 Great academic language builders: activities for math, science, social studies, language arts... and just about everything. San Clemente, CA.: Seidlitz Education.
Lemov, D. (2011). Teach like a champion: the complete handbook to master the art of teaching. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
Seidlitz, J., & Kenfield, K. (2011). 38 Great academic language builders: activities for math, science, social studies, language arts... and just about everything. San Clemente, CA.: Seidlitz Education.
No comments:
Post a Comment