Session 2: Research Teams: The Speaking and Listening Standards
Sequence of Sessions
Overall Learning Objectives of this November 2013 Network Team Institute
New Participants Only:
 I can describe the structure and content of the 3-8 ELA Modules.
Teacher Targets:
 I can describe the relationship between students’ speaking and listening practices and vocabulary development,
reading and writing.
 I can effectively use protocols and the other collaborative classroom structures in the 3-8 Modules develop
students’ knowledge along with speaking, listening, reading and writing skills.
 I can evaluate the Common Core Standards related to Speaking and Listening of students’ thinking and talk and
provide feedback to help them improve.
 I can give and receive constructive feedback that supports quality module adaptation.
Leader/NTI Targets
 I can describe collaborative, change-focused professional cultures.
 I can provide focused feedback to support teachers in building collaborative classrooms.
 I can support the development of a collaborative, change-focused culture schoolwide, including ways to manage
counterculture behavior.
 I can give and receive constructive feedback that supports quality module adaptation.
High-Level Purpose of this Session
 All participants work in small research teams to read, annotate, develop responses to text-dependent questions and discuss research related
to collaboration and speaking and listening in the classroom.
Related Learning Experiences
 All others from this NTI.
Key Points


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Structured academic conversations improve students’ knowledge, vocabulary, and reading and writing skill.
Structured academic conversations do not “just happen;” they need to be taught and scaffolded.
The protocols embedded in the modules help students have structured academic conversations.
Session Outcomes
What do we want participants to be able to do as a result of this
session?
How will we know that they are able to do this?
Understand the relationship between classroom talk (academic
conversations, accountable talk) and knowledge and vocabulary
development, and reading and writing skill.
Answers to text-dependent questions.
Listening in on their structured conversations.
Session Overview
Section
Time
1. Greetings and
Group
Grounding
5 minutes
2. TextRendering
Protocol
50
minutes
Overview




Prepared Resources
Facilitator Preparation
Participants greet each
other.
Facilitator introduces
learning target for session



Journals
Facilitator’s Guide
PPT

Review facilitation guide
and powerpoint.
Participants are introduced
to the Text Rendering
Protocol.
Participants read, annotate,
answer text-dependent
questions and discuss
research related to the
relationship between
students’ speaking and
listening practices and


Text Rendering Protocol
The Common Core
Standards for Speaking and
Listening (participants
bring these to the session).
“Structuring the Talk,”
Fisher and Fry (for
secondary teachers)
“Collaborative
Conversations,” Fisher and

Purchase, download, and
read articles in advance.
Use the Text Rendering
Protocol yourself to
anticipate participant
responses.




3. Closing and
Reflection
5 minutes

vocabulary development,
reading and writing.
Participants draw
conclusions about the
importance of wellstructured speaking and
listening on academic
achievement.
Participants capture take
aways in journals



Fry (for leaders)
“Habits Improve Classroom
Discussions,” BambrickSantoyo (for elementary
teachers)
Journals
PPT
Session Roadmap
Section1: Greetings and Group Grounding
Time: 11 to 11:05
[5 minutes] In this section, you will prepare participants for the session and create a culture of
achievement.
Materials used include:
Time
4 minutes
Slide #/ Pic of Slide Script/ Activity directions
Participants greet each other at tables,
taking the time to say their names and
roles.
GROUP



Journals
Facilitator’s Guide
PPT
1 minute
Facilitator introduces the learning target
for the session:
● “I can describe the relationship
between students’ speaking and
listening practices and vocabulary
development, reading and writing.”
Section 2: Text-Rendering Protocol
Time: 11:05 to 11:55
[50 minutes] Using this protocol, participants read about and discuss research related to the impact of
classroom conversation on students’ learning and skill development.
Materials used include:
Time
5
Slide #/ Pic of Slide Script/ Activity directions
The facilitator reviews the steps in the Text
Rendering Protocol and the group gets organized.
GROUP




40
1. Briefly review the Speaking and Listening
Standards (ideally you brought along your
grade specific standards, but if not, the anchor
standards are provided for you here) (2
minutes)
a. Comprehension and Collaboration

SL.CCR.1: Prepare for and participate
effectively in a range of conversations
and collaborations with diverse
Text Rendering Protocol
“Structuring the Talk,”
Fisher and Fry (for
secondary teachers)
“Collaborative
Conversations,” Fisher and
Fry (for leaders)
“Habits Improve Classroom
Discussions,” BambrickSantoyo (for elementary
teachers)
partners, building on others’ ideas and
expressing their own clearly and
persuasively.

SL.CCR.2: Integrate and evaluate
information presented in diverse media
and formats, including visually,
quantitatively, and orally.

SL.CCR.3: Evaluate a speaker’s point of
view, reasoning, and use of evidence
and rhetoric.
b. Presentation of Knowledge and
Ideas

SL.CCR.4: Present information, findings,
and supporting evidence such that
listeners can follow the line of
reasoning and the organization,
development, and style are appropriate
to task, purpose, and audience.

SL.CCR.5: Make strategic use of digital
media and visual displays of data to
express information and enhance
understanding of presentations.

SL.CCR.6: Adapt speech to a variety of
contexts and communicative tasks,
demonstrating command of formal
English when indicated or appropriate.
2. Briefly discuss what it looks like and sounds
like in the classroom when students are
working toward meeting the Speaking and
Listening Standards (5 minutes).
3. Preview the graphic organizer and questions
on page 3 of this protocol (1 minute). You
might want to take this out of your notebook.
4. Each member of the team selects an article of
interest to them (the articles follow the
graphic organizer). (1 minute)
a. “Structuring the Talk,” Fisher and Fry
(recommended for secondary teachers)
b. “Collaborative Conversations,” Fisher
and Fry (recommended for leaders)
c. “Habits Improve Classroom
Discussions,” Bambrick-Santoyo
(recommended for elementary
teachers)
5. Read your chosen article for 15 minutes,
completing the graphic organizer on the next
page with sentences, phrases and words from
the articles that answer the questions (it is not
necessary to complete every box). (15
minutes)
1. Why should students be consistently
engaged in academic discussion?
2. What should academic discussion look like
and sound like?
3. What are the impacts of structured
discussion on students’ knowledge,
vocabulary development and reading and
writing skill?
6. The facilitator, who needs to be polite, but
firm; makes sure that everyone has a
chance to share thinking from their
articles. Participants in discussion should
be aware that not everyone has read the
same articles so they should use stems
such as “In my article on page 2, paragraph
7” and take others in the group to the
specific text.
The facilitator needs to make sure everyone
gets a chance to offer at least one sentence,
phrase or word from the articles. Take 15
minutes total for discussion, giving about 5
minutes to each question and referring
specifically to your source texts. Remember
you didn’t all read the same thing so be sure to
incorporate the central ideas of each article
into your conversation. (15 minutes)
5
The facilitator asks participants to shift their
conversation to the following prompts:
 How did the Text-Rendering Protocol
support you in having an “academic”
conversation?
 What are the implications for using
protocols in classrooms?
Section 3: Reflection and Closing
Time: 11:55 to Noon
[5 minutes] In this section participants capturing their thinking related to their new learning.
Materials used include:
Time Slide #/ Pic of Slide Script/ Activity directions
GROUP
5
minutes
Individual
Participants independently capture their thinking
related to the impact and methods for structuring
students’ conversations. In addition, they reflect on
the use of a protocol to enhance collaboration and
strengthen professional culture.
 Journals
 PPT
Turnkey Materials Provided
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
Text Rendering Protocol
Links to articles, which must be purchased for additional use:
o “Structuring the Talk” http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00098655.2010.484440?journalCode=vtch20#.UmIafmsiM4
o “Collaborative Conversations” http://www.nassp.org/tabid/3788/default.aspx?topic=Instructional_Leader_PL0413
o “Habits Improve Classroom Discussions.” http://www.kappanmagazine.org/content/95/1/70.abstract
Additional Suggested Resources

Academic Conversations: Classroom Talk that Fosters Critical Thinking and Content Understandings, Jeff Zwiers, Marie Crawford (2011)