Did you know that “turn and talk” is one of the best strategies for developing student understanding and improving test scores? Referencing Adding Talk To The Equation, by Metamorphosis Founder, Lucy West, we dissect 10 clues that indicate it’s time to get students talking.
Who is talking in your math class? If it’s mostly you, we’re here to tell you that there’s a better way to promote student learning: frequent, guided, student conversation. The following 10 clues are abbreviated excerpts from Adding Talk To The Equation.
1 – Agree/Disagree/Not Sure
Whenever there is a disagreement in the air, it is likely a good time for students to turn to a neighbor and take a stand. Students should be instructed to vote at the count of three in the following manner- thumbs-up/agree, thumbs-down/disagree, thumbs-sideways/not sure (or use clickers, which are part of technology resources in some schools).
2 – Digest an Idea that Is Under Discussion
To develop students’ capacity to think aloud in a whole group, the teacher can highlight the idea and ask students to turn to a neighbor to explain the idea to one another to ensure that all students are thinking about the same concept.
3 – Explore An Idea Without Expectation of Mastery
When a major idea comes up or a child puts forth a conjecture or generalizes beyond the specific example under discussion, it is helpful to use turn and talk as a barometer to measure students’ making sense of the idea. In this instance, pair talk is used to explore an idea that may initially be beyond the understanding of most students.
4 – Time to Rehearse Before Sharing
Teachers can prompt students to think about an idea or problem or make a hypothesis or conjecture and share their idea or thinking with a neighbor to prepare for a discussion with the whole group.
5 – Gathering prior knowledge
When launching a unit, a new topic, or a new vocabulary, or examining a word problem prior to solving it, students can be asked to think about what they already know about the topic and then turn to a partner and list all the things they know. When the whole group reassembles, a collective class list can be created from the partner talk more rapidly and with more students’ input than if this process is done only as a whole group activity from the start.
6 – Wondering
Learning to ask questions is a critical life skill and one students seem to engage in less and less the longer they are in school. When a new topic is introduced, students can be asked to turn to a partner and list questions about the new topic. This rehearsal time with a partner gives students reticent to talk in a whole group or who lack confidence or questioning skills a chance to engage in a low-risk manner.
7 – Preparing to Write
We are often able to verbalize before we are able to write. When an idea has been discussed for some time and the teacher wants students to write their own definition or explanation of the concept, it is sometimes helpful for students to turn to a neighbor and say verbally what they intend to write. Students could then write down their responses.
8 – Teaching One Another
When an idea comes up for discussion and only some of the students seem to understand the concept, it may be time to turn and talk. If students are seated in groups of four, or in pairs, then through a show of hands, see whether at least one student in each group/partnership has some grasp of the concept. Then have them turn and talk. The teacher can join a group in which no one’s hand was raised.
9 – New Language
When you want students to try out new vocabulary, have them explain the meaning of the word to other students in their own words. Or have them turn to a partner and use the word(s) in a sentence or story.
10 – Deer-in-headlights response
When you ask a question and your students look at you like a deer in headlights, assuming it is a well-phrased question, give students at least ten seconds to think and then have them turn to a neighbor to see whether they can together come up with an answer to the question. Then resume a whole-class conversation about the question.
Don’t forget to comment below with your own clues that say it’s time to get students talking, and get your copy of Adding Talk To The Equation.
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