Talk Moves in Math While teachers of both younger and older children work hard to provide their students with the best literacy experiences, oral language is often neglected in the classroom The variety of language used at home and school has a direct bearing on children's literacy. Because of the complexity of the language development processes, caregivers in the home and school need to be aware of ways to enhance opportunities for children to learn effective communication. 1

Excess Teacher Talk Swamps Children 4/14/2017 Beware!! Excess Teacher Talk Swamps Children Cross & Nagel 1969 2/3 of the talk in classrooms is done by teachers 2/3 of the talk is about controlling or directing One assumption is that the teacher's role is to teach--is usually interpreted to mean that to teach means to talk. Accordingly, teachers spend hours and hours teaching by talking while the children sit listening passively. Such conventional teaching-learning is one of the obstacles preventing the real development of oral language. Children leaving these classrooms tend to carry this passivity over to their learning attitudes, and tend to be "disabled" in their learning abilities, as well. Hong, Z., Kortner, A,N, (1995). Oral Language Development across the Curriculum, K-12. ERIC Digest. ERIC Clearinghouse on Reading English and Communication Bloomington IN. ED389029 Too much teacher talk Teachers talk too quickly Teachers do not adjust their instructional language to meet the needs of their students Teaching moves into small groups but the language stays the same! Research in 1912 found that teachers talk 64% of the time in classroom discussions. This is relatively consistent in classrooms today Carmel Crevola Carmel Crevola - Module 1 2

Teacher-Centered Discussion (Image Source: http://www.icalweb.com/wiki/index.php?title=Classroom_Focus)

Student-Centered Discussion (Image Source: http://www.icalweb.com/wiki/index.php?title=Classroom_Focus)

Briefly, why aim for talk and discussion? •Talk reveals understanding and misunderstanding. • Talk supports academic language development. • Talk supports deeper reasoning. • Talk supports social development and perspective taking.

What are Talk Moves? Academic talk by students and teachers.

Revoicing The teacher repeats part or all of a student's utterance and asks the student to verify whether the interpretation is correct. Especially helpful to teachers when they do not understand what was said. Revoicing is not simply repeating, The third part (verification) is necessary. (I infer…. Is that right? Is that correct?)

Say More… Ask a student to elaborate on what she said, or ask another student to "add on" or "say more" about a classmate's contribution. This move is helpful whether or not the teacher understands the initial contribution. Sometimes this move is overlooked because it is so straightforward. Students enjoy having a platform from which to start their comment.

Repeat Students restate a contribution of a classmate either verbatim or paraphrased. Useful when an idea is out on the floor and teacher wants more engagement. Repeating, even when reformulated in your own words, requires another layer of thinking. It is somewhat challenging to repeat classmates' contributions. The expectation that students be able to repeat contributions is useful. Students are "on call" and must attend to conversation. Even teachers find the task challenging in meetings, etc. This move changes the level at which people listen.

Example or Counterexample? Student asked to provide an example or counter-example of his or a classmate's contribution. This move is particularly useful in math, but also in other subject areas. Calling upon other students to provide examples serves as an effective check for understanding. Counterexamples are productive in math when disproving a claim, etc.

Agree or Disagree Teacher asks student whether they agree or disagree with a comment, then also asks why. It is important to add the "why" when using this move. The yes or no question of "Do you agree or disagree?" is a good start point to engage students in the deeper thinking of "why?“ Effective move to control and encourage close attention to classmates' contributions. In order to have students agree to disagree you have to have listened.

Why do you think that? Teacher asks students to explain how or why they came to their position. Move can also referred to as "press for reasoning.“ Pressing can include asking why, requiring evidence, citing text, questioning methods, etc. Ultimate goal is to open a student's reasoning process to the rest of the class so that others can learn and respond. Always press for reasoning? Where does it say that in the text. Talk us through your reasoning. You have some thinking and reasoning. Open it up. Externalize their thinking.

Wait Time Teacher allows quiet thinking time for students to develop responses. While not technically a "talk" move, wait time is equally important. It is important to provide students time to think. Waiting for a student response may feel uncomfortable to some, but with practice is becomes natural. Moving on rapidly is not always to most beneficial choice for students. Students who are normally quiet can provide especially insightful responses if teacher uses wait time. The idea that this puts undue pressure on students is false. This move allows more students to participate and builds confidence in those less accustomed to speaking out.

But, Where do I Start? Start with one move. The revoicing move can be introduced into teaching without fanfare. Students can learn revoicing techniques with explicit coaching. Revoicing is highly effective yet simple. Consider announcing to class that talk will be used in new ways and describe what students might expect.