Author: Colin CostelloWhy is talk important? Involving students actively in science via talk is critically important. It provides a window into students' thinking, helping us see what students do and do not understand. As students begin to talk about something, both students and teachers are able to realize if they do or do not understand everything about the topic. Ever have a student stop midway through an answer or retract their statement? Had a handful of students with competing ideas? A student provides their answer, but can’t justify it with evidence or reasoning? All of these are examples of how talk allows teachers to constantly assess our students in a formative manner. Not only that, but talk guides students into using the science practices, like constructing explanations and arguing from evidence, while encouraging them to use reasoning. This is why student discourse is such an important feature of Phenomenal Science lessons. But not all talk is equal. I-R-E (initiation, response, evaluation) is the dominant discourse pattern of classroom interactions. The student answers the teacher’s question, the teacher congratulates them on a correct response or tries another student to get the “right answer”, and the lesson moves on. In order to engage students in deep thinking with the science and engineering practices, they need access to and experience with discourse-rich sensemaking discussions. Breaking the I-R-E pattern and integrating productive talk may take time and effort to shift away from. To do this, we need to be intentional about how we set up the culture of talk in our classrooms, the tasks we engage students in, and the strategies we use to facilitate students toward more academically productive talk. Setting up a culture of talk If we want students to participate in discourse, then we need to set up an environment where they feel their ideas are valued. Are students sharing their ideas equitably? Are students asking questions of one another? Are they building on each others’ ideas? If these are the types of conversations we want happening in our classrooms, then it is imperative that we lay the groundwork for a culture of talk in our classrooms. Just like we set norms and expectations in our classrooms for behavior and routines, we need to be explicit about what we want from our students regarding discussions and talk with one another. What sort of norms or expectations would you have for your students to establish a culture of productive academic discourse? Here are some examples of norms and expectations from the Inquiry Project. Don’t forget to reinforce and revisit the expectations with your students in order to continue fostering a culture of talk throughout the year. How would you go about setting up a culture that holds students accountable for providing their thinking and building on one another’s ideas, but in a safe and equitable manner? Selecting or designing tasks worthy of student discourse Once students feel comfortable talking in your classroom, the next step is to be purposeful about what tasks are going to actually support student discourse. Just like not all student conversations are equally important, not all tasks are supportive of deep student discourse, and not all activities should necessarily require it either. Let’s use the comparisons of task A and task B from the book “5 Practices for Orchestrating Task-Based Discussion in the Science Classroom”. In the images below, notice how task A tells the student precisely what to do and how to do it. What do you think the result would be for each group of students in your class? All the same products with very little difference. Contrast task A with task B, where the task is much more open-ended, allowing students to have choice and voice, along with multiple possible ways to show their thinking. Which one would spark questions, noticings, and a deeper sense-making discussion on the topic? In order to encourage the type of discourse we want students to engage in, we need to select and design tasks that are complex with just enough ambiguity that students need to do some heavy lifting and make choices. Allow them to make sense of the situation and be the scientist trying to figure it out. Cartier, Jennifer L. (2013). 5 practices for orchestrating productive task-based discussions in science. Reston, VA :National Council of Teachers of Mathematics : NSTA Press Teacher strategies for promoting student discourse Lastly, how do we as facilitators of this discourse make sure students are actually talking productively and moving toward understanding? How do we make sure students are building on each other’s ideas or refuting them respectfully with evidence? How do we get the discussion to a class consensus? For that, we need to employ teacher talk moves and strategies. Check out some of the Inquiry Projects talk strategies (p.7-9) and talk moves (p.11) to get some ideas. The Inquiry Project provides many resources related to talking in science and gives a nice overview of various talk moves we can do to support deeper student thinking. This takes time and practice to implement well. Maybe print out a quick reference talk moves bookmark, like this one, or the picture below, to have handy during class discussions until it becomes more natural. Keeley, P. (2016). Formative Assessment Probes: Talk Moves. A Formative Assessment Strategy for Fostering Productive Probe Discussions. Science and Children, 53, 24-26. Want to know more about productive discourse in the classroom? Check out our other blog on this topic with additional resources.
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AuthorPhenomenal Science Leadership Team Archives
February 2022
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