#talk for learning

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Talk for learning focus 5: presentational talk – how to speak like an essay so that students can write like an expert

According to Phil Beadle, oracy is the most fundamental and most important skill (empathy aside) humans have to acquire. Being able to organise and articulate your thoughts orally is pivotal to success in life. Ros Wilson, the originator of Big Writing (popular in many primary schools) tells us, “If you can’t speak it, you can’t write it.” Her logic is worth repeating:

1. We can only say what we can think.

2. We can only write what we can say.

3. But if we can say it, we can write it.

The more able we are to articulate thought in speech, the more able we will be with the written word. Therefore, if we want to improve students’ ability to write, we need to first of all improve their ability to express themselves in the spoken word. If they can say it, they can write it.

Up-skilling talk: how to ‘speak like an essay’

One of the means Ros Wilson uses to get better quality work from her students is through the concept of ‘up-skilling talk’. What this means is that when a student makes a statement or answers a question, we need to prompt them to “talk it in posh”: to speak in the academic language of our subject, like an essay, a historian or a designer. If we want pupils to ‘speak like a scientist’ then we need them not only to use subject-specific keywords, but we also need them to use language in a way that a scientist would. We need to model this through our own language, but also more importantly to scaffold our students’ ability to use academic language. If we do this, their ability to speak will shift, and so will their ability to think. Compare: “When they are cold the particles are close together, and when they are hot they move further apart” with “The expansion of particles causes matter to change state from solid to gas whereas the contraction of particles causes matter to change state from gas to solid.” Or, “Particles in a gas are far apart” with, “The particles in a gas are more diffuse.” If students can talk about science using the language of science then they will have started to think like a scientist. And if we change students’ way of thinking, we change their ability to write. A simple request for students to re-phrase their responses can be very effective – and much better than accepting and praising the more basic responses and moving on.

How to do this using ‘Thought Stems’

David Didau’s idea is to use Thought Stems, like the one above, to prompt students to reword their thoughts in the kind of language they need to use in writing. This helps them to ‘speak like an essay.’ We do this by turning the kind of scaffolding we usually use for essays into prompts for expressing ideas verbally in the classroom. Display the prompts around the room and then direct pupils to express their ideas using the Thought Stems.

Using thought stems means that students are required to think using the academic language of your subject. This increases the likelihood that they will learn to ‘think like an essay’, not only articulating their meaning more clearly, but also to structure their ideas and therefore to be able to write them down.

In teaching our subjects, we need to identify areas where teaching students the most appropriate language to use needs to take centre stage; we need to ‘make the implicit explicit’. Subject specific literacy is something we’re all responsible for and it’s very often the key to learning the subjects themselves. So, if we want our students to write like experts, we would do well to first help them to speak like an essay. As Phil Beadle suggests, we might also want to do this because:

“Being able to speak well and being able to articulate their internal world is of immense value in itself: it will make our students more successful; it will make them better friends; it will make them more interesting, more attractive, more charming; it will make them more able to understand the world, more able to articulate nuance, and less likely to hit things.”

And who can argue with that?

References and further reading

Phil Beadle, Literacy (Independent Thinking Press)

David Didau, The Secret of Literacy (Independent Thinking Press)

See also: http://www.learningspy.co.uk/english-gcse/teacher-talk-the-missing-link/

Tom Sherrington, “Learning the language of learning” http://headguruteacher.com/2014/04/17/pedagogy-postcard-16-learning-the-language-of-learning/

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Talk for learning focus 4: improving classroom talk through questioning

Questioning has always been an essential part of what teachers do. However, research suggests that teachers in the UK ask far more questions than in many other parts of the world, and that our questions aren’t as good! As much as 80% of our classroom questioning is based on closed, lower-order, factual recall questions, relies ubiquitously on hands-up, and rarely includes thinking time. (“What is the chemical symbol for oxygen?” “O”, “Well done.”) We need instead questioning that requires students to think, not just to report someone else’s thinking.

Questioning is less effective when:

·      It’s not clear why we are asking a particular question

·      We pose closed questions that require short answers

·      We pile up questions so that they become confusing

·      We launch into difficult questions without building up to them

·      We use a scattergun approach around the room

·      We accept the first answer given and then we move on

·      We ask questions which require students to ‘guess what’s in our head’

·      We don’t involve the whole class

·      We are afraid to show when an answer is wrong

How to ask better questions

·      Emphasise your classroom as a place for exploring ideas, in which making mistakes is a natural part of learning.  This will enable us to explore the content of what has been said, showing when and how it may not be correct, instead of offering superficial praise for answers.

·      Always build in thinking time and oral rehearsal. This will develop more thoughtful responses and is more likely to encourage a wider range of responses from a broader range of pupils. A great way of doing this is to:

·      Use ‘no hands-up’ strategies such as Think-Pair-Share. Instead of ‘hands up’, you ask students to discuss their answers in pairs for a short period and then you call individuals to respond, reporting back on their discussion.   You then engage in a dialogue with the respondent, exchanging three or four responses to probe more deeply (“What were you saying in your pair?” “Why do you think that might be the right answer?” “Can you link that to what x said earlier?” “Does that happen all the time or just in this case?” Etc).

·      Give clear instructions and conditions. Another variation on Think-Pair-Share, involving more active listening, is as follows:

In pairs, think of three reasons that the Cold War ended. Be ready to explain them. You now have two minutes with your partner to come up with your three reasons. Then I’m going to choose someone to tell the class. We’ll all listen and then I will ask one person to say which of those reasons is the most important.

In this example, everyone needs to listen because everyone might be asked to comment. This also requires the students to evaluate the responses, rather than you. You could ask for three responses, before asking a fourth pupil which of the responses they most agree with.

·      To develop more thoughtful, developed responses, ask “why and “how” questions that require students to analyse and evaluate, as well as more simple skills such as to recall or to explain.

Further questioning strategies

Clarify, probe, recommend questions

When asking questions, make it clear how they are being used to get students to clarify, probe and recommend. These question stems help to make it clear to students what type of thinking they are expected to do.

If we want students to clarify their meaning we might ask something like:

·      What did you mean by…?

·      Can you explain that differently?

·      What other words could you use?

To probe answers we might ask:

·      Can you tell me more about…?

·      What else do you know about…?

·      How else might you use that?

Once we’ve heard a few different answers, we could ask students to recommend by asking them things like:

·      What is better about…?

·      Can you explain why you prefer that?

·      Why do you agree with…?

Pose, pause, pounce, bounce

1. Pose.

•          Give the context of your approach to the class.

•          Insist on hands down before the question is delivered.

•          Provide a clear and specific question or a series of questions.

2. Pause. This is the hard part.

•          Ask the class to hold the thought; ... think; ... think again... The thinking time at the ‘pause’ point is crucial – there is a great deal of evidence about how the quality of responses, and the confidence levels of students, is raised by even a short amount of thinking time.

•          If students are captivated and engaged, try asking them to think of more possible answers...push the boundaries. Keep the reflection for as long as possible, to ensure that everyone has something to contribute.

3. Pounce.

·      You select who answers the question. Plan in your mind who you are going to ask, before speaking to the class. You could use lollipop sticks or other random name generators here, but actively choosing who answers questions is one of the most useful skills in a teacher’s armoury.

·      Try not to speak yourself, allowing instead the student responding to occupy the metaphorical space. Resist the temptation to evaluate the answer or say anything other than “thank-you”.

4. Bounce.

·      Ask another student B (immediately) after the ‘pounce’ response, their opinion of student A's answer. This can be developed by asking student C and even D their opinions to student A's response, irrespective if the answer is ‘correct’ or not.

·      Select another pupil to clarify the answer that’s been given, to probe further into potential meanings or to recommend why a particular answer has merit.

·      The ‘bounce’ is also crucial in that students are expected to constructively build upon the ideas of one another, which gives the teacher the crucial formative assessment information required. If students are expected to evaluate their classmates’ responses by bouncing questions around the class, expectations for participation are also much higher.

The Socratic method

Socrates himself believed that questioning was at the root of all learning – and it is hard to disagree. The six steps of Socratic questioning create a critical atmosphere that probes thinking and provokes progressively deeper thought. There are six main categories:

1.    Clarify what is meant (What did you mean by…? Why do you say that? Could you explain that further?)

2.    Challenge assumptions (Does this mean you think…? Is this always the case…? Why do you think that this assumption holds here?)

3.    Probe for evidence and reasons (How do you know…? Is there reason to doubt this evidence?)

4.    Consider different viewpoints and perspectives (Why is this better than…? What is the counter argument for…? Can/did anyone see this another way?)

5.    Consider implications and consequences (What would happen if…? But if that happened, what else would result? How does…affect…?)

6.    Question the question (I think you’re right / wrong because… Why do you think I asked that question? Why was that question important?)

Deeper questioning

Here’s a useful question grid to help you plan how you’re using questions as well as getting pupils to design their own:

Adapted from John Sayers’ Deeper Questioning Grid

References and further reading

Geoff Barton, Don’t Call it Literacy (Routledge)

David Didau, The Secret of Literacy (Independent Thinking Press)

See also: http://www.learningspy.co.uk/learning/developing-oracy-its-talkin-time-2/

Alex Quigley, “Questioning – Top Ten Strategies” http://www.huntingenglish.com/2012/11/10/questioning-top-ten-strategies/

Tom Sherrington, “The ‘Washing Hands’ of Learning: Think Pair Share” http://headguruteacher.com/2012/07/17/the-washing-hands-of-learning-think-pair-share/

John Sayers, “Questioning” http://sayersjohn.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/questioning.html

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Talk for learning focus 3: Exploring the significance of exploratory talk and oral rehearsal for students to develop their cognitive skills.

Exploratory talk for learning

What do we know about student talk in the classroom? (from Geoff Barton)

•       It is dominated by teacher talk (75% of classroom talk)

•       Mostly consists of Q&A

•       60% of students never have a conversation with adults in school

•       We massively waste students’ potential by not using talk more systematically

What is exploratory talk?

Exploratory talk is that in which partners engage critically but constructively with each other’s ideas … it is an effective way of using language to think (Neil Mercer)

The readiest way of working on understanding is often through talk, because the flexibility of speech makes it easy for us to try out new ways of arranging what we know, and easy also to change them if they seem inadequate. (Douglas Barnes)

What is the difference between exploratory talk and presentational talk?

Exploratory talk is typical of the early stages of approaching new ideas. It is hesitant and incomplete because it enables the speaker to try out ideas, to hear how they sound, to see what others make of them, and to arrange information and ideas into different patterns. This is to be distinguished from presentational talk, in which the speaker’s attention is primarily focused on adjusting the language, content and manner to the needs of an audience. In exploratory talk, by contrast, the speaker is more concerned with sorting out his or her own thoughts. Teachers need to be sensitive to the differences between them and use them appropriately.

What are the purposes of exploratory talk?

Exploratory talk is important because it helps students to think – to sort out their thoughts and make sense of things. Its purposes might include, but are not limited to:

Making suggestions

Challenging ideas

Asking questions

Justifying ideas

Analysing and evaluating

Building on, clarifying, modifying others’ ideas

Summarising

Done properly, this can involve each and every Habit of Mind.

What’s the problem with it?

Research evidence suggests that very little exploratory talk naturally occurs in classrooms when children work together in groups. (Neil Mercer: Words and Minds)

Exploratory talk provides an important means of working on understanding, but learners are unlikely to embark on it unless they feel relatively at ease, free from the danger of being aggressively contradicted or made fun of.

In the earlier stages of a new topic, it is likely to be exploratory talking that will contribute more to the interrelating of old ways of thinking and new possibilities: in other words, it will be more likely to enable learners to think. We have to teach and model this. Setting up a supportive context for learning during lessons is central to good teaching. It is through talking over new ideas with their teachers and peers that pupils can most readily move towards new ways of thinking and feeling.

What conditions might promote productive exploratory talk?

•       Thoughtful groupings

•       Specific roles within groups

•       Planning as carefully as you would other tasks

•       Clear outcomes

•       Specific time-limits

•       Modelling the required language and behaviour

What are some useful strategies for structuring exploratory talk?

(a) make it clear that some parts of lessons are expressly intended to be discussion sessions, in which questions and diverse views on a topic can be expressed;

(b) during whole-class discussions, allow a series of responses to be made without making any immediate evaluations;

(c) if some different views have been expressed, ask pupils for reasons and justifications for their views before proceeding;

(d) precede whole-class discussion of particular questions or issues with a short group-based session, in which pupils can prepare joint responses for sharing with the class. It may help to offer pupils a set of alternative explanations, contentious statements or ideas on a topic, and ask them to decide which are true/false, and why;

(e) before providing a definitive account or explanation (of, for example, a scientific phenomenon), elicit several children’s current ideas on the topic. Then link your explanation to these ideas.

(f) use whole-class sessions to gather feedback from children about how they have worked together in groups. Are the ground rules working? Do the rules need to be revised? Do they feel their discussions have been constructive? If not, why not? And what could be done about it?

(g) ask pupils to nominate other pupils in whole-class discussions, so that the teacher does not always choose who should speak.

Summary: in order to promote exploratory talk

•       Plan it: aim for a variety of groups / activities

•       Model the language you expect

•       Make yourself be detached

•       Feedback on the process, not just the content

•       Praise endlessly: it means more to the students than it does to us

References and further reading

Douglas Barnes, “Exploratory talk for learning”

http://www.corwin.com/upm-data/23512_01_Mercer_Ch_01.pdf

Neil Mercer and Lynn Dawes, “The value of exploratory talk” https://www.esrc.ac.uk/my-esrc/grants/RES-000-23-0939-A/outputs/Download/2a239d65-89f9-4e38-a027-1f1296f44a5e

Both taken from, Mercer, N. & Hodgkinson, S. (2008) (Eds) Exploring Talk in School. (London: Sage.)

Geoff Barton, Don’t Call it Literacy (Routledge)

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Talk for learning focus 2: The use of learning objectives and language within the classroom to ensure students know what they are expected to learn and how they will demonstrate it – explanatory talk.

“The analogy that might make the student’s view more comprehensible to adults is to imagine oneself on a ship sailing across an unknown sea, to an unknown destination… very quickly, the daily life on board ship becomes all important…the daily chores, the demands, the inspections become the reality, not the voyage, nor the destination.”

Mary Alice White’s view from the students’ desk from Dylan Wiliam’s, Embedded Formative Assessment.

Why focus on learning objectives?

Learning objectives help both teachers and students to see the destination and chart the voyage.  Great learning objectives can provide challenge, encourage persistence, develop higher order thinking and encourage us all to aim for excellence. We may think that we all know what learning objectives are, yet it’s always worth revisiting the notion in order to analyse quality and effectiveness. Time and effort spent framing learning objectives and developing success criteria that promote opportunities for all students to achieve excellence is time well spent indeed. As Dylan Wiliam says: “this is why good teaching is so extraordinarily difficult…it is hard…because it has to be designed backwards”

1. What is a learning objective?  Why should we use learning objectives?

Learning objectives should be brief, clear, specific statements of what learners will be able to do at the end of a lesson as a result of the teaching and learning that has taken place.  They are sometimes called learning intentions or outcomes. The learning objective or objectives that you use might be seen as belonging to three broad areas of learning: knowledge, skills and attitudes.  Learning objectives define learning outcomes and focus teaching. They help to clarify, organise and prioritise learning. They help you and your students evaluate progress and encourage them to take responsibility for their learning. They’re also a great opportunity to link (or ask students to link) to the Tallis Habits they will be developing that lesson.

Important features of learning objectives – John Hattie

In his book Visible Learning for Teachers: Maximizing Impact on Learning, John Hattie identifies a number of important features of learning objectives from his extensive analysis of the research. He suggests the following principles:

Learning objectives should be:

Clear to students

Lead to a shared understanding of learning goals

Transparent – show how tasks relate to learning intentions

Inclusive of all students

Appropriately Challenging

Referred to – to help students chart their “journey”

Build in mechanisms for knowing that learning has been achieved

Hattie goes on to outline five essential components related to learning objectives and success criteria:

Challenge

Related to prior knowledge and learning

Relative to a student’s current performance and understanding

Not unattainable – students must be able to see a pathway to challenging goals

Create positive tension – error is welcomed and encouraged

Commitment

Greater commitment from students = greater performance

More powerful when related to challenging tasks

Confidence

Supported by scaffolding along the learning journey

Helps build resilience amongst students to tackle challenging goals

High expectations

Support the development of students having high, appropriately challenging expectations of themselves

The most powerful influence on enhancing achievement

Conceptual understanding

Move understanding from the surface level to deep and conceptual levels

2. Putting the theory into practice - How can I use learning objectives more effectively in my lessons?

The following lists and tables contain examples of active verbs which describe the sorts of things you might want your students to be able to do and may help you to write useful learning objectives.

Set 1: Based on the ‘3 areas of teaching’

Knowledge

analysis

arrange

calculate

circle

cite

classify

compare

contrast

compare

define

describe

differentiate

group

identify

interpret

label

list

match

name

outline

plan

record

revise

select

solve

state

tabulate

evaluate

recognise

give examples

Skills

adjust

assemble

chart

collect

use

draw

employ

establish

illustrate

imitate

interact

locate

maintain

measure

modify

operate

organizes

rearrange

return

set up

practice

manipulate

master

fit

perform

demonstrate

Attitudes

accept

adopt

advocate

approve

assess

challenge

characterise

choose

criticize

defend

evaluate

formulate

judge

justify

manage

model

persuade

recommend

resolve

select

specify

value

reassure

empathise

Set 2: Based on increasing level of difficulty and challenge (Bloom’s Taxonomy)

Emphasis – link to Bloom’s Taxonomy

Relevant Action Verbs to use in your lesson objectives:

Knowledge

‘To find or remember information memorising information’

Tell, uncover, show, state, define, name, write, recall, recognise, list, label, reproduce, identify, acquire, distinguish, state, order, locate, repeat, count, describe, enumerate, find, match, read, recite, record, select, sequence, state, view

Comprehension

‘To understand the information and restate in your own words, paraphrasing, summarising, translating’

Comprehend, appreciate, select, indicate, illustrate, represent, formulate, explain, classify, translate, extrapolate, convert, interpret, abstract, transform, select, indicate, relate, experiment, simple comparisons, demonstrate, explain, reword, discuss, cite, conclude, describe, discuss, estimate, generalise, give examples, locate, make sense of, paraphrase, predict, report, restate, review, summarise, trace

Apply/Application

‘To use information to solve problems, transfer abstract or theoretical ideas to actual situations, identifying connections and relationships and how they apply ’

Assess, change, chart, choose, demonstrate, determine, develop, establish, produce, relate, report, select, show, use, try, diagram, perform, make a chart, put into action, build, report, employ, relate, draw, construct, adapt, apply, sequence, carry out, solve, prepare, operate, generalize, plan, repair, explain, predict,  instruct, compute, use, implement, solve,

Analysis

‘To take information apart, identifying components, determining arrangement, logic and semantics’

Analyze, study, combine, separate, categorise, detect, examine, inspect, discriminate, take apart, generalise, scrutinize, estimate, compare, observe, detect, classify, discover,  explore, distinguish, catalogue, investigate, breakdown, order, determine, differentiate, dissect, contrast, examine, interpret,  identify, dissect, characterise, correlate, diagram, illustrate, infer, limit, outline, point out, prioritise, relate, separate, subdivide.

Synthesis

‘To create new ideas or things, combining information to form a unique product, requiring of creativity and originality’

Write, plan, integrate, formulate, propose, specify, produce, organize, theorize, design, build, systematize, combine, summarize, restate, argue, hypothesise, predict, create, invent, produce, modify, extend, design, formulate, develop, build, compile, discuss, derive, relate, generalize, conclude, combine,  précis,  discuss,    integrate, conclude,  adapt, categorise, compose, construct, create, design, generate, incorporate, integrate, modify, organise, perform, propose, reinforce, reorganise, rewrite, structure

Evaluation

‘To make judgements about knowledge, to make decisions and supporting views, requires understanding of values. ’

Evaluate, interpret, decide, solve, rate, appraise, verify, assess, test, judge, rank, measure, appraise, select, check,  evaluate, determine, support, defend, weigh, judge, justify, attach, criticise,  weigh up, argue, choose, compare and contrast, conclude, critique, defend, predict, prioritize, prove, reframe

Bloom’s Taxonomy with teaching and learning ideas and strategies:

To summarise:

DO have a learning objective clear in your mind before you plan your lesson

DO share it with students

DO draw links between your objective(s) and Tallis Habits – or even better, ask the students to

DO have success criteria against which progress can be measured

DO refer back to your learning objective at various points in the lesson

What are we NOT saying:

PLEASE DON’T just get students to copy them down in their books and tick them at the end of the lesson. Copying objectives for 3 mins per lesson = 10 school days (50 hours) ‘wasted’ per pupil per year.

References and further reading:

https://www.tes.co.uk/teaching-resource/Writing-Learning-Objectives-6096896

A blog by Dan Brinton on ‘Better Learning Intentions’: https://belmontteach.wordpress.com/2014/01/03/better-learning-intentions/

A post from David Didau entitled, ‘Learning Objectives and why we need ‘em’: http://www.learningspy.co.uk/learning/learning-objectives-why-we-need-em/

This is a really clever visual model for learning objectives based on Bloom’s revised taxonomy:

http://www.celt.iastate.edu/teaching-resources/effective-practice/revised-blooms-taxonomy/

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Social talk: the importance of conversation and dialogue

It is clear that students are advantaged by verbally enriched social environments and that conversation and dialogue are therefore what we should seek to cultivate in our students. Yet tragically we know from John West-Burnham’s observations that up to 60% of pupils in secondary schools never have a conversation with an adult. They answer their name and answer (too many) (usually closed) questions. But they don’t have conversations. Good conversation with an adult helps students to build their linguistic repertoire, develops their listening skills, teaches them new linguistic structures and idioms. In short, it’s essential to help them to learn.

So, the first thing we’re focusing on this term is making the difference for the 60% of pupils who may not otherwise have a conversation with an adult at school this week. Whether it's making use of tutor time to talk to those more reticent members of our tutor groups, having a walk around the concourse for a few minutes before or after school or spending 5 or 10 minutes of our lunchtime in the canteen talking to students - we're trying to get conversations into the heart of the school's culture.

Make it your New Year’s Resolution to have a conversation with someone in one of your teaching groups you don’t normally speak to. Offer them opportunities to talk…but also to listen. You might make a bigger difference to them than you realise.