The teacher in the video has been practicing the usual talk moves—turn and talk, say more about that, and repeat back for about a month to cultivate listening skills and new habits for explaining their thinking and attending to a math problem until they understand it. This class is a typical 6^th grade class with a wide range of student understanding.

The teacher was new to the talk moves we have been sharing with you in our previous blogs:

-10 Clues That Say it’s Time to Get Students Talking

-How well do your students listen to each other?

Before the opening moment of the clip linked below, students wrote expressions that showed how many desks, tables, and chairs were represented in a blueprint. The big idea here is equivalence. Equivalence: An infinite number of expressions can be written for the same situation.

Is this expression, 12(2d) + 8d + 18c + 8c + 12c + 1t + 1t, equal to this expression, 32d + 38c + 2t?

Notice what talk moves the students are using without prompting from the teacher and which moves the teacher prompts.

VIDEO: Making Sense of the Problem

The sixth-grade teacher in the video has been working for about six weeks to develop her students’ capacity to engage in mathematical discourse without much prompting. The evidence of success is that the students know exactly what to do when asked to turn and talk and do it. The teacher can then walk around and listen to the partnership conversations to determine who to call on to start the whole-group share.

The capacity of average sixth-grade students to carry on a focused math conversation without the teacher’s direction is evident in the video. They speak directly to one another during whole-group discussions. They ask one another for clarification. They build on what the other is saying, and sometimes they challenge one another’s thinking. In addition, these students ask one another for assistance when needed, evidence that they are practicing the metacognitive skills (for example, self-awareness and self-monitoring) associated with self-management of learning. These skills further enhance the likelihood that the students are engaged in and able to learn from the conversation. This behavior lets us know that the students consider it a safe learning environment in which not knowing is okay and asking questions is encouraged and valued.

Students who are unclear, are not afraid to ask a question, and most of the time, another student is the one to explain the problem, rather than the teacher. Once the talk moves skills are actively used regularly, students can often agree with, disagree with, or build on what was said because they have heard what was stated. They often include parts of what was said in their comment or question, making it clear that they are listening. 

How are your math classes going? Are you willing to invest the time to create the habits that ensure that ALL your students will be engaged and learning to a degree that will surprise and delight you? Try the talk moves, be patient and stick with it. Success is sure to follow.

Excerpted from: Adding Talk to The Equation, by Lucy West. Get your copy of the book today.