Across the Curriculum
Talking with others about ideas and work
is fundamental to learning. But, not all talk
sustains learning. For classroom talk to
promote learning it must be accountable – to
the learning community, to accurate and
appropriate knowledge, and to rigorous
thinking.
*
*
*seriously responds to and further
develops what others in the group have
said
*puts forth and demands knowledge
that is accurate and relevant to the
issue under discussion
*requires active listening
*uses evidence appropriate to the
discipline (e.g., proof in mathematics,
data from experiments in science,
textual details in literature,
documentary sources in history) and
follows established norms of good
reasoning
*All teachers must intentionally create
the norms and skills of accountable
talk in their classrooms
Learning
Community
Knowledge
Rigorous
Thinking
*
*In order to recognize and support
accountable talk, it is critical to focus
on the activities and tasks that are
carried along by the talk. It's
impossible to identify "good" or
"productive" or "accountable" talk
without taking into consideration the
goals, topics, and content of the
lesson, and the relationship of the
learners to each other and to the task
at hand. For this reason, in thinking
about and promoting accountable talk,
we are always moving from purposes to
activities to talk.
*
* Accountable talk is not something that springs
spontaneously from students' mouths:
accountable talk is jointly constructed by
teachers and students, working together
towards rigorous academic purposes in a
thinking curriculum. It takes time and effort to
create a classroom environment in which
accountable talk is a valued norm. Organizing
the community for accountable talk calls for
designing activities and tasks in ways that
support productive talk on the part of
students. It requires teachers to guide and
scaffold student participation. A range of talk
formats, particular teacher moves, and norms
for equitable and respectful participation have
been shown to support accountable talk.
“As classroom teachers we are really
effective at teaching students how to
monologue, NOT how to dialogue.”
THINK ABOUT IT!
What does this mean?
*
In classrooms
where high levels
of student
engagement and
accountable talk is
prevalent:
* Students are able to explain the
relationship between the discussion and
the stated learning objective.
* The teacher and students ask questions
that require synthesis, analysis, problem
solving, and application of learning.
* Students return to the text and other data
sources to support their positions or
challenge positions taken by others in the
discussion.
* All students take an active role in
discussions, using agreed upon norms.
* Anchor charts that outline norms for
discussions and specific group discussion
strategies are displayed.
* The teacher uses different discussion
strategies and routines (i.e. pairs, small
group, full class, turn and talk, think-pairshare; fishbowl, inside/outside circles,)
appropriate to the lesson’s learning
objective and the learning needs of
students.
* The teacher models these strategies and
routines and gradually releases
responsibility to students for leading
discussions, with the teacher periodically
acting as a participant or facilitator.
* Students and the teacher use rubrics to
assess the quality of classroom discussions
(content and process).
* The teacher observes discussions and uses
observation data to inform instruction
(conference logs).
*
1
Discusses activity at all times
Uses target vocabulary
Gives multiple reasons for answers including strategies used
Includes non-speakers
Creates a respectful learning community
2
Discusses activity the majority of the time
Uses some target vocabulary
Gives reason(s) for answers including strategies used
Includes some non-speakers
Creates a respectful learning community
3
Discusses activity some of the time
Uses little target vocabulary
Gives answers without reasons or strategies
Does not include non-speakers
Attempts to create a respectful learning community
4
Does not discuss activity
Uses no target vocabulary
Gives answers without reasons or strategies
Does not include non-speakers
Does not attempt to create a respectful learning community
Classroom posters
ILLUSTRATING
STRATEGIES to help
facilitate talk.
(With a
partner)
(Yourself)
(Whole
class)
Why? Tell me
more! Give an
example.
Defend
your
reasoning
against a
different
point
of view.
How did you arrive
at
your answer?
Redirect a
question back to
the person.
Make one’s thinking
public and
demonstrate expert
forms of reasoning
through talk.
Restate and make
public a person or
group’s discussion
and understanding.
Ensure that everyone
is heard and
understands what a
person says.
Make explicit the
relationship between a
new contribution and
what was said before.
Revoice a
person’s
contributions.
Hold everyone
accountable for
the accuracy,
credibility, and
clarity of their
contributions.
Tie a current
contribution
back to
knowledge
accumulated
by a person or
the class at a
pervious time.
Press for evidence
and understanding
of a person’s
statements.
Give extra time and
space in the
conversation to
expand reasoning.
*Think Write Pair Share
*Silent Discussion
*Fishbowl
*Inside / Outside Circles
*Literature Circles
*Jigsaw
*Socratic Seminars
*Turn and Talk
*Think Aloud
*Conversation Café
*It Says, It Means
*
* YES/NO CARDS
* THINK CARDS (GREEN AND ORANGE)
* 5 FINGERS
* HEADS DOWN/HANDS UP
* SAM’S CARDS
* SPECIFIC ROLES IN GROUP WORK (HATS)
*
* “I agree with you because.”
* “Where do you see that?”
* “How does that connect to?”
* “I have a different opinion.”
* “I also noticed.” “Do you agree?”
* “Is there another way to solve the problem?”
* “Did everyone hear that?”
* “I have something to add.”
* “What did you mean when you said?”
* “Say more. We can wait.”
* “Say more about what you mean.”
* “What is your evidence?”
* “Who can add to what was said?”
* “Can you repeat what_______said?”
* “I would like to add to that
*
* Teachers
* Model reading processes of predicting,
looking for key words, engaging in prior
knowledge, etc.
* Model methods of restating another
person’s argument
* Model and provide practice at responding
appropriately to criticism
* Model ways to support claim and evidence
*
*Revoicing: “So let me see if I’ve got your
thinking right. You’re saying XXX?” (with time
for students to accept or reject the teacher’s
formulation);
*Asking students to restate someone
else’s reasoning: “Can you repeat what he
just said in your own words?”
*Asking students to apply their own
reasoning to someone else’s reasoning:
“Do you agree or disagree and why?”
*Prompting students for further
participation: “Would someone like to add
on?”
*Asking students to explicate their
reasoning: “Why do you think that?” or
“How did you arrive at that answer?” or “Say
more about that.”
*Challenge or Counter Example: “Is this
always true?” or “Can you think of any
examples that would not work?”
*One idea I had was…
*To add to
his/her (__________’s)
idea, I was thinking…
*My idea was similar to his/hers…
*My idea was different from
his/hers…
*Could you please explain what you
mean so I can understand better ?
*Can you point out in the text where
you got that idea?
*I hear what you are saying…can
you show me the evidence from the
text to support that statement?
*I think/don’t think ____ is right
because…
*That’s an interesting way to think
of …
*My idea is similar to…
*That reminds me of…
*What I’m hearing you say is…
*You’re saying that…
*In other words…
*I still have a question about…
•As I was saying…
•Could you say that again?
•In my opinion,
• I hadn’t thought of that…
•Did you mean?
•My evidence from the text is on
page_____, where it says,
“_____________________.”
•I agree/don’t agree with (name)
because…
•I see what you mean…