Academically Productive Talk in ELA
PK-K with a Focus on English
Learners
Supporting Implementation of Rigorous Speaking
& Listening Standards
© 2013 University of Pittsburgh
Goal
• Deepen understanding of rigorous Speaking and
Listening Standards.
• Deepen understanding of Accountable Talk® practices
in ELA as a way to improve academic rigor of
discussions and support students to meet rigorous
speaking and listening standards.
• Deepen understanding of how Accountable Talk
practices in ELA can scaffold the comprehension of
English learners and build vocabulary.
© 2013 University of Pittsburgh
Accountable Talk® is a registered trademark of the University of Pittsburgh.
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Academically Productive Talk PK-K with a
Focus on English Learners
What Is It and What Does It Take to Get There?
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Speaking and Listening in Early Childhood
•“It has been well established that early childhood is a crucial time for children’s
cognitive development. Less understood is that very young children are ready—
and excited—to develop skill and understanding in language and literacy,
mathematics, and science.
•Oral language is arguably the most crucial area of academic focus during the prekindergarten years. Oral language is the primary means by which children gain
knowledge about the world, and it is the vital foundation for children’s literacy
development.
•Research suggests that teachers should encourage parents (of English learners)
to continue to speak with and read stories to children in their first language at
home. Continued growth in the first language seems to facilitate children’s
understanding about the way language works and may help to speed acquisition of
new concepts and vocabulary. English learners carry over the learning in the first
language to learn in the second language.”
•Albert Shanker Institute, 2009
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Trace Speaking & Listening Standards
• Take a moment to review the CCSS Speaking &
Listening standards.
– What do you notice about the skills and habits that
the CCSS values in terms of speaking and
listening?
• Then study Standard 1:
– What do you notice about the progression of
Standard 1 (one) from K-2?
• What changes?
• What remains the same?
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Whole Group Discussion
Rigorous Standards for Speaking & Listening
– According to the rigorous standards, what do
students need to know and be able to do as
participants in “structured conversations”?
– Why are those habits and skills important for
school readiness?
– From your experience, how much practice and
expertise do English Learners have with being part
of structured conversations?
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What are Accountable Talk Practices?
• When we say “Accountable Talk practices” or
“academically productive talk” we mean to include all
varieties of teaching that use classroom discourse
strategically,
to move students to a higher level of reasoning
and communication about their reasoning.
• It is talk by teachers and students about academically
important content:
– Talk that supports development of student reasoning
– Talk that supports improvement in students' ability to
communicate their thinking
– Talk that scaffolds English learners’ comprehension
and builds their vocabulary
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Why Focus on Talk and Discourse
• Why do educators and researchers in general think
that classroom talk has the power to improve both
students' learning and ability to reason, and
teachers' ability to teach?
• Talk can reveal understanding and
misunderstanding
• Talk supports robust learning by boosting memory
in several ways.
• Talk supports language development
• Talk supports deeper reasoning
• Talk supports development of social skills
© 2013 University of Pittsburgh
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Accountable Talk Practices in
ELA with a Focus on English
Learners
© 2012 University of Pittsburgh
Text, Task, and Talk
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© 2013 University of Pittsburgh
What We Know From Research About
Accountable Talk Practices
• It is extremely rare for students to engage in text-based
discussions.
– Questions most typically asked of students by teachers
and textbooks are recitation questions.
– Predominant pattern: I-R-E (Initiate-RespondEvaluate).
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Lauren Resnick, Founder IFL
LEARNING RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT CENTER © 2012 University of Pittsburgh
What We Know From Research About Talk In
ELA
“Accountable talk is talk that is
orchestrated by teachers so that
students learn to formulate
responses to problems,
interpretations of text that are correct
in disciplinary terms and go beyond
what was actually written there.”
Lauren Resnick
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An Overview of Accountable Talk Practices
• Please take about 10 to 15 minutes to read pages
1-6 of the Introduction to the Accountable Talk
Sourcebook (or your notes on the advance reading)
for key ideas and to identify one moment that
strikes you as most significant to the text.
• After you have read, use the two-column note chart
to record the moment you select. Write the moment
in the left column of your chart. Then, across from
it, do a quick write to explain why you consider that
moment significant to the text.
• Be prepared to share your moment and explanation
with a colleague.
© 2013 University of Pittsburgh
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Facilitator’s Model for Significant Moments
Significant Moment
Explanation of the significance to the
text
“Accountable Talk practices are
not something that springs from
students’mouths. It takes time
and effort to create an
Accountable Talk classroom
environment in which this kind of
talk is a valued norm. It requires
teachers to guide and scaffold
student participation” (paragraph
4, p. 1).
This moment makes an important point
about Accountable Talk practices:
namely, that it just doesn’t happen
overnight. Changing the nature of talk in
the classroom involves a shift in the
typical way of doing things—i.e., a shift in
culture, in ways of behaving for both
teachers and students. Teachers,
therefore, must realize their important
role in inviting or “norming” students into
this culture. This moment is significant
because the entire Accountable Talk
practices overview is based on the idea
of making new demands on both groups.
For English Learners this may mean
providing opportunities to respond in their
first language as needed and providing
the scaffolding required for them to be
comfortable speaking English.
© 2012 University of Pittsburgh
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Whole Group Discussion
• What key ideas did you identify in this overview of
Accountable Talk practices?
• What moment did you identify as most significant to
the text? Why did you consider that moment
significant?
• What questions do you have?
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Video of an ELA Lesson
© 2012 University of Pittsburgh
Accountable Talk Features and Indicators
• Accountability to the Learning Community (#1)
– Students actively participate in classroom talk.
– Listen attentively
– Elaborate and build on each other’s ideas
– Work to clarify or expand a proposition
• Accountability to Accurate Knowledge (#2)
– Specific and appropriate knowledge
– Appropriate evidence for claims and arguments
– Commitment to getting it right
• Accountability to Rigorous Thinking (#3)
– Synthesize several sources of information
– Construct explanations and test understanding of concepts
– Formulate conjectures and hypotheses
– Employ generally accepted standards of reasoning
– Challenge the quality of evidence and reasoning
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Engage in Video Task, Part I
• Count off by 3s at your table.
• Reread the section you are individually responsible for
(e.g., accountability to the learning community,
accountability to accurate knowledge, accountability to
rigorous thinking) to support you in viewing the video.
• Individually:
• As you watch the tape, look for evidence of the feature
of Accountable Talk practices for which you are
responsible.
• Make notes on the observation page that will help
identify for the group specifically where there is
evidence for this type of accountability in the tape.
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Accountable Talk Features and Indicators
Participant Observation Notes
Accountability to the Learning
Community(#1)
·Students
actively participate in classroom talk
·Listen attentively
·Elaborate and build on each other’s ideas
·Work to clarify or expand a proposition
Accountability to Knowledge (#2)
·Specific
and appropriate knowledge
·Appropriate evidence for claims and arguments
·Commitment to getting it right
Accountability to Rigorous Thinking (#3)
·Synthesize
several sources of information
·Construct explanations and test understanding of
concepts
·Formulate conjectures and hypotheses
·Employ generally accepted standards of reasoning
·Challenge the quality of evidence and reasoning
© 2013 University of Pittsburgh
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Context of Video Example
• Content: Comprehension of a text in an interactive read aloud
lesson using the QtA approach
• Grade:
Kindergarten
• Text:
Owen
• School:
New York City Public Schools
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Norms for Collaborative Study – Watching Video
Goal of all conversations: To advance our own
learning, not “fix” the practice of others
•
Facilitator chooses lens for study.
•
Agree to read/watch/talk through the designated lens.
•
Cite specific examples from text or video.
•
Build on others’ ideas.
•
Use language that is respectful of those in the video and in
the group. Behave as if those in the video are here in the
room with us.
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After the Video
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Task Directions, Part I
Share Accountable Talk Examples from Video
(refer to the transcript as needed)
• In trios, discuss:
– For each Accountable Talk feature, discuss an
example from the video to share with whole group
• As a whole group, discuss:
– Where in the video did you see evidence of a
particular Accountable Talk feature?
– How does this Accountable Talk feature support
student comprehension?
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Summary Points: Evidence of Accountability to
the Community
• Many students participate by responding to questions
and responding to what another student says
• Students listen to one another and are able to agree or
disagree with what other students say.
• Students respond to other students’ comments and
ideas.
• Students build directly on what someone else has said
or offer a counter opinion.
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Summary Points: Evidence of Accountability to
Rigorous Knowledge
• Students figure out what the author’s words mean,
“handkerchief.”
• Students figure out what some of the ideas behind the words
mean, “Fuzzy likes what I like.”
• Students use paragraphs, not one-word answers, to talk about
these ideas.
• Students are held accountable to the text. They are frequently
asked to back up their answers by asking if that is what the
text said. Teacher asks, “Does the text say that?” She rereads so they can figure it out.
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Summary Points: Evidence of Accountability to
Rigorous Thinking
• Students listen to words and have to figure out what is
going on based on abstract language. They are shown the
pictures after they talk demonstrate understanding.
• Students summarize what they understand, using different
words to name the same thing, in an effort to establish
understanding even though this was done in a response to
a different question.
• Students formulate conjecture about what may happen
because of actions taken by the characters.
• Students challenge the quality of the reasoning when they
disagree about a blanket being able to eat food.
• Students figure out how the problem was solved in the
story.
© 2013 University of Pittsburgh
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Task Directions, Part II
• In trios, review the transcript and discuss responses to
the following questions. Take notes on your discussion
so that you can share your ideas with the whole group.
• What is the content or conceptual knowledge being built
during this lesson?
• How does this kind of Accountable Talk text discussion
support student comprehension?
• What role did text selection play in supporting this
discussion?
• What kinds of preparation did teachers engage in to
enact this lesson?
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Summary Points: What Is the Content or Conceptual
Knowledge Being Built During this Lesson?
Students use and elaborate on such concepts and
vocabulary including:
•giving up a loved object
•growing up and moving on
•participate in collaborative conversations
•understand the meaning of sophisticated words
•reading beyond the words in the text
•confirm understanding of a text read aloud
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Summary Points: How Does this Kind of Accountable Talk
Text Discussion Design Support Student Comprehension
of the Text?
• Gives students practice engaging in the practices of academic
discussions (e.g., citing evidence).
• Clarifies misconceptions as they occur to ensure understanding
before going on.
• Provides students with opportunities to hear, and then use,
vocabulary beyond what they can read on their own that they also
might use in everyday conversation.
• Permits teacher to assess student comprehension at frequent
intervals.
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Summary Points: What Role Did Text Selection
Play in Supporting This Discussion?
• Text was relevant to student interests.
• Text was complex because it included challenging
concepts/vocabulary that became accessible because
of current classroom talk.
• Text required students to apply comprehension skills to
a challenging text at an instructional level through an
interactive read aloud.
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Summary Points: What Preparation is
Necessary to Enact Such a Lesson?
• Choose a complex text that is appropriate for the
students,content standards, the genre.
• Determine the central ideas in the text.
• Use knowledge of students to determine level of prior
knowledge and to anticipate difficulties.
• Choose vocabulary to teach.
• Identify stopping points to assist comprehension.
• Develop open-ended, text-based questions.
• Decide what additional graphic support is necessary
and when to use it.
• Anticipate follow-up responses.
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Task Directions, Part III (refer to the transcript as needed)
• In trios, reflect again on the video example you
watched to answer the following questions.
• What does the teacher do or say to engage the students
with the text?
• What does the teacher do or say to engage the students
with each other during the discussion?
• How does this teacher align to the expectations of the
listening and speaking standards we studied? What do
you notice about how students are building skills and
habits that the standards value in terms of speaking and
listening?
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Summary Points: What Does the Facilitator Do to
Engage Students with the Text?
In advance:
•Study the text to identify the key ideas to be developed.
•Decide where to segment the text to support comprehension of
difficult passages requiring inference.
•Keep track of key ideas to be developed throughout the
discussion.
During the discussion:
•Pose open-ended and follow-up questions to guide the
discussion.
•Use specific talk moves to press for accuracy, reasoning, and
evidence.
•Pay attention to linking and building ideas when necessary.
•Press students for evidence.
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Summary Points: What Does the Teacher Do to
Engage Students with One Another?
• Make sure all students can hear, and ask
students to speak up or repeat their comments.
• Allow for repetition of important ideas with
different words.
• Expect students to build on, and not just repeat,
what others say.
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Reflect on Academically Productive Talk in ELA
• What did you learn and/or what insights did you gain
about academically productive talk and supporting
implementation of the CCSS Speaking & Listening
standards?
• What are the implications of your insights for the
teaching and learning of all students?
• What ideas are you interested in learning more about?
Why?
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Bridge to Practice
• By ____________________, engage students in a text
discussion on a complex text. If possible, audio or video
tape your lesson or ask a colleague to transcribe the
discussion. Then, reflect in writing on the discussion in
terms of its alignment to the speaking and listening
standard 1 and your own use of Accountable Talk
moves. Draw on specific examples from the discussion
to support your ideas.
• Be prepared to share your reflection with your
colleagues on ______________________________.
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