The Basics of Turn and Talk

One of the goals of the Common Core State Standards writers was to build natural collaboration among students.  "Turn and talk" opportunities are imperative in all classrooms.  Peer conversations give students an active role in learning.  It enables students to take their thinking and articulate it into words, which allows their brains to build and make connections that would typically not occur.  Also, the listening component allows students to hear the thinking of their peers, which helps them to clarify their own thoughts.

Here are 5 steps that will help to ensure that effective buddy talking is occurring in your classroom:

• Plan:  Write questions ahead of time to ensure that they are higher level and build on one another.
• Pose:  Have students sit knee to knee so they can see eye to eye.  Also give students indicators of who's talking first.
• Wait:  Students need 10-15 seconds, or more, to formulate an answer.  During the wait time, repeat the question, as well as provide supporting quesitons and scaffolds where appropriate.
• Monitor & Feedback:  The teacher should be listening to students as they are responding to check for understanding.  This is also a time to identify students whose thinking will benefit the entire group.
• WRITE!:  In the final steps, students should have an opportunity to solidify their understanding by piecing together their original thoughts with their new understanding from the turn and talk session through written expression.  

Here is a clip of Turn and Talk in action.  

NS632.GR12.Taubman.Reading.Turn and Talk from Uncommon Schools on Vimeo.

Here are some things to note from the video:

• Discussion is not about the obvious.  Students are responding to a rigorous prompt.
• This discussion is not an ending point, but it is a starting point for their lesson.  This discussion leads somewhere.

I will add more to supplement this topic of accountable talk in future posts.

~Chandra