1. Inclusive Ed PLC: Elementary strand
February 24, 2015
TST BOCES
Facilitated by Jennifer Gondek
Instructional Specialist for Inclusive Education
TST BOCES
(607) x 334

2. Content Area: ____________
Opening Activity:
Please complete the following on an index card.
Think about what you want students to know and have by the end of the year.
Content Area: ____________
Top 5 facts
Top 5 concepts
Top 3 skills
Top 3 qualities

3. Pair-Share Share out with a partner.
How do you assess all of these areas?

4. Learning Targets:
I can describe the five core academic conversation skills.
I can fortify lessons with authentic and extended conversations.
I can train students to become more aware of how they think (metacognition) and to clearly express their thought process to others.
I can use conversations as formative and summative assessments of a wide range of knowledge, skills, and engagement indicators.
I can plan collaboratively with the strengths and needs of a diverse group of students in mind.

5. “Why did the author write this?” “To teach us about courage.”
“Yeah, the guy was brave.”
“OK, what do we do now?”
Is this an academic conversation? What makes a conversation academic?

8. Connections to Danielson Rubric
Review the 3b components. Highlight important phrases/indicators as you read.
Look at the effective/proficient category.

9. http://www. schooltube
Watch the Jerry Seinfeld clip. How would Jerry score in his questioning and discussion techniques? What evidence do you have?

10. Advantages of Conversations:
Language and Literacy Skills
-Academic Language
-Vocabulary
-Literacy Skills
-Oral Language and Communication Skills
I never understood the book, so I never read it. But after talking to my partner about the chapter on atoms and stuff, I understood it finally. I even tried to read the next chapter on my own. But then I had to talk about it, too.
-8th grader
AL: words, grammar, organizational structures---Listening, talking, negotiating meaning.
Academic vocabulary- tier 2 and 3
Literacy skills: oral languge- foundation for reading and writing
Oral language- much less emphasized after grade 3, less in diverse rooms that need it most.
Many vital comm. skills are not automatic in all students. They can be “hidden” until we explcitly teach them to students.
We want to aaugment:
Argumentation Skills
Group Discussion
Listening
Valuing Talk and Clarity

11. Advantages of Conversations:
Cognitive Skills
-Critical Thinking
-Different Perspectives and Empathy
-Creativity
-Negotiating Meaning and Focusing on Topic
Oral interaction is a main aventue for fostering critical thinking skills.
Use conversations to develop their own thoughts.
Conversations are complex.
Studnets must engage in various habits of mind, quickly, in real time, in response to what someone else is saying.
Say: Develops students intellectual agility.
Before doing this conversation stuff, I would be talking to a partner and thinking about lunch.
-4th grader

12. Advantages of Conversations:
Content Learning
-Content Understandings
-Cultivates Connections
-Co-construct Understandings
-Assess Student Learning
Students become teachers of one another.
Connections: short convo is a “slice” of a long convo over time.
Co-construct understandings: communal understandings and shared experiences.
Assess student learning: overhear parter talks, small group discussions. Checks for understanding.

13. Advantages of Conversations:
Social Skills
-Builds Relationships
-Academic Ambience
-Lessons More Culturally Relevant
-Fosters Equity
Also not explicity taught, but should.
Builds relationships: give and take, listnening, fewer socially isolated students.
A more connected and integrated academic experience. When they are asked to academically, it becomes a natural experience.
Diverse students from cultural backgrounds. They use conversation in different ways.
Language and comm. Styles that are different from mainstream classrooms. Language and thinking of texts.
I think about things a lot more when I know I’m gonna talk about it with another student.

14. Advantages of Conversations:
I didn’t know I was interested in history. Just memorizing it was boring.
Psychological
- Inner Dialogue and Self-Talk
- Engagement and Motivation
- Confidence and Academic Identity
- Choice, Ownership, and Control over Thinking
- Self-Discovery
- Student Voice and Empowerment
Inernal dialogue- coherent thinking about thinking.
Like social interaction- gossip, chit chat, social motivation is there.
Value other’s ideas: “Great idea, lets write it down!”
Over tiem, gradually kids get academic identities. Feel more confident.
Clarify their own opinions, interests, perspectives and taletns.
They own their learning when ideas come from them (students).

15. Structured Conversations
Stand and Converse
Take a Side
Conversation Lines and Circles
Jigsaw by table?

16. Other Structured Conversations?
What other structured conversations do you use?
Think-Pair-Share
Stop-Jot-Share
Elbow Partner
Cocentric circles
Fold the lines

17. Conversation Skills:
What do your students struggle with when it comes to conversation? In your group, make a list of 5-10 skills that you feel would need to be specifically taught.
Discuss how talking helps you learn
Conversation IS and IS NOT
Bad Behaviors in a Fishbowl
Sticking to the Destination, Purpose, and Main Topic
Establish Norms (Value, Respect, Support, Connect)

18. Conversation Norms: Goal 1: Respectful Discourse
Goal 2: Equitable Participation
What norms (3-5) do you have in class? What are the benefits of having norms?

19. 5 Core Skills of Academic Conversation
Elaborate and Clarify
Support ideas with examples
Build on or challenge another’s idea
Paraphrase
Synthesize Conversation Points
Also called conversation moves
Don’t come natually in when conversing on academic topics for children
We need to teach them
Academic Conversation Placement
Carosel Activity with the Placemat???

20. Talk Moves:
Supporting Students with Talk Moves:

22. Jigsaw Conversation Skills:

23. Skill 1: Elaborate and Clarify
“Can you elaborate on ….”
Elaborate with Analogies
“It’s like when I was in fifth grade and…”
Questioning to Clarify and Probe
“What do you think about…?”
Elaborating and Clarifying with Examples
“For example, a bat is an omnivore because it eats
both fruit and insects”
Can you elaborate on that? Elaborate on what?
Younger students….”Tell me more” is okay.
Listener shifts focus from his own thinking and gets to hear more academic language!

24. Skill 2: Support Ideas with Examples
Examples from the text
“Based on what the character said here…”
Examples from other texts
Examples from the world
Examples from one’s own life
Support an idea with reasons
Explain the strength of an example
*Note- Encourage students to think of examples in the order listed here*

25. Skill 3: Build on and/or Challenge a Partner’s Idea
Zoom in and pick a point
Connect Ideas
Stay Relevant
Challenge an Idea
Adapt an idea

26. Skill 4: Paraphrasing Helps negotiate meaning
Guide key points to stay focused on main topic.
Aids in comprehension
Shows a person is listening and understands what is being said
“Anyone can nod their head, but to paraphrase what a partner is saying shows true listening.”
(Zwier & Crawford, 2011)

27. Skill 5: Synthesize Conversation Points
Track ideas and combine the useful ones!
Come to a consensus or “agree to disagree”
Leave enough time after a conversation to synthesize
Solidifies purpose and greatly enhances the ideas being remembered and learned.

28. Looking for Talk Moves:
1. Using the Word More and Less (Mrs. Luizzi, Kindergarten)
2. Finding Missing Digits (Mr. Danella, Grade 3)
Fraction Number Line (Mrs. Rowan, Grade 6)

29. Reflect: What talk moves do you see?
What do you think the teacher is trying to accomplish by using these talk moves in this combination?

32. Rubrics:

33. References:
Chapin, S.H., O’Connor, C. & Canavan Anderson, N Classroom Discussions in Math: A Teacher’s Guide for using talk moves to support the Common Core and more. Sausalito, CA: Math Solutions Press. Johnston, P Choice Words: How Our Language Affects Children’s Learning. Portland, ME: Stenhouse Publishers Zwiers, J. & Crawford, M Academic Conversations: Classroom Talk that Fosters Critical Thinking and Content Understandings. Portland, ME: Stenhouse Publishers.