I'm continuing how I teach my class our procedures.
Ginger W.
+++++++++++++++
Next I say this to them: "You know how when the teacher asks a question and
you get your thinking ready and everyone raises their hand to answer but
she/he can only call on one person? And when she doesn't call on you, you
hear that inner voice saying, 'Man! I wanted her to call on ME!!!'?? Well I
have a better way I'm going to teach you so that EVERYONE can have their
thinking shared. Because I know that everyone has great answers and great
ideas and great thinking. So I'm going to teach you something called TURN
and TALK. This is how it works."
I ask them to find someone right next to them who will become their thinking
partner. I walked around helped them pair up. If there is an odd number I
help one group make a threesome. If I noticed eye rolling or heard groans
(because of who I had paired up) I had this little talk with them next---
"Now I know that kids really just like to turn and talk with kids they are
used to. But you know what? That's not what we're going to do this year.
In a minute I am going to have you turn and talk about that but before I do-
this is how turn and talk LOOKS and SOUNDS. (I charted this on the next
page of my two column T-chart- see below.) When I say 'Turn and talk
about....' you need to turn your body towards your talking partner. Some
people say 'Get knee to knee and eye to eye'. This is actually Active
Listening, isn't it? I want you to start your talking this way: 'I'm
thinking........' And be sure to add on the word BECAUSE and keep going
with your thinking. So instead of just saying, for example, 'I'm thinking
that it should be quiet.' Say: 'I'm thinking it should be quiet because that
way we can all concentrate on doing our work.' Piggyback (add to)onto what
you hear your partner say. Go deep with your thoughts. Use hand gestures as
you are talking."
LOOKS LIKE:
two (sometimes three with odd numbers) students together
facing each other eye to eye, knee to knee
mouths moving
hand gestures
SOUNDS LIKE:
talking together in small groups
piggybacking- adding more on to thinking
using examples
"I'm thinking...............because......"
Then I go on to say, "O.K. Now I want you to turn and talk about what is
GOOD about having the chance to turn and talk to different kids each day.
Be sure to add the 'because......' .
They INSTANTLY turn and talk and my job is to walk around and listen in. If
I notice a group not facing each other I nudge them to turn towards each
other. If I notice a group not talking, I scoot down by them and facilitate
their talk. I rephrase the talking point and help them talk it out. If I
notice groups who are "done" I have them look at the groups who are still
going at it and suggest that possibly there is much more to say about it and
ask them to say more about their thinking and remind them to add
BECAUSE.......
After just about 1-2 minutes (while they are still going at it) I say,
"Let's come back together." I may have to say that two times. I tell them
that when I say that it means turn back facing me (active listening).
Sometimes they are frustrated because they are "not done" but I tell them
that's o.k. I'm sure they got to share something that was important.
Keeping the talking time short helps the lesson keep moving and what my
purpose is, is to let ALL voices be heard and to engage ALL minds in the
lesson.
I then tell them at I am going to teach them the next step in TURN and TALK.
That they each got to hear the thinking of their thinking partner but the
rest of us would like to hear some of that thinking as well. I tell them,
"O.k. This is how we are going to do this next part. When it is the "share
back whole group" part, you can share back something YOU said during TURN
and TALK or something you heard YOUR PARTNER say. When I ask who has
something to share, and I call on you to share, this is how I want you to
say it: 'Nancy and I were thinking.......... because .......' or 'Dan and I
were thinking......... because........' And I'll help you remember this
part. So who would like to share?"
When I call on someone I remind everyone else to "do" Active Listening. I
have that person wait until everyone is "doing" Active Listening. If he
starts looking at me when he begins to talk, I point to the group and I say,
"Tell the kids, not me." If he starts without the "Nancy and I were
thinking" part I DO interrupt him and say the words I want HIM to say.
("Nancy and I were thinking.....") Sometimes even when I do that they don't
get the HINT to word it that way and so I say, "No, I want you to start over
and say, 'Nancy and I were thinking...'. (YES this interrupts the FLOW but
I have learned the hard way that if I don't MAKE them say it the way I want
them to say it they simply don't do it. They really DO catch on after a few
times like this!) I tend to just ask about 2-4 people to share back whole
group. I know some people don't take the time to do this but besides me
hearing where they are at with their thinking, I believe sharing back whole
group creates models for those who are not yet at the deeper thinking level
of most of the kids. Those kids will hear the stronger thinkers and will
strive to get there. Another reason I want to hear sharing back whole group
is to reinforce, reteach, redirect any misconceptions or gaps in
understanding.
One suggestion for older students- I would say that we are going to leave at
the door if we are a boy or a girl because it is not going to matter who it
is or if they are a boy or girl when we turn and talk. We ALL have good
thinking to share and it will no longer be o.k. to just share girl to girl
and boy to boy. We are all thinkers and all thinking will be valued and
encouraged. I would tell them that I will be watching to see that they are
choosing to sit in different places when we come over to our gathering area
rather than just sitting by the same people. So that they will be able to
enjoy and learn from receiving the thinking of ALL their peers in their
class.
I LOVE turn and talk. When I ask my class to turn and talk about why it is
good to turn and talk with lots of different kids and not just the same kid
each time, they give back whole group exactly what I would have said if I
had chosen to just TELL them why. It takes me out of the EXPERT/transmitter
of THE information role. They each get the opportunity
(in a very structured and comfortable way) to share their thoughts. All
thoughts are heard. Based on my experiences, turn and talk bumps up
engagement in all subject areas. I started doing turn and talk during math
and science and social studies. Whenever I would have previously just
called on one student. You can walk around an hear their thinking if you do
it when they are at their desks as well as in the gathering area.
I always have to remind myself that going over this one time is not enough.
Depending on the group, I may have several thinking pairs model what it
looks like/sounds like for the class and then have the class turn and talk
about what they noticed and heard. I even often ask the class BEFORE hand
to turn and talk about what I should see/hear when we do turn and talk
today. Then have a few share back. And then of course have them reflect on
how it went at the end of the shared part of our reading workshop.
After just rereading this email it sounds a bit ANAL-- on paper it does but
not in practice. Once my kids are "trained" each year in these processes to
help us facilitate our thinking, the work I have in store for them will be
easier to accomplish and we'll have greater success. When they backslide, I
go back to these beginning "training" steps and redo it. I think one reason
our "management" breaks down is because we think if we've taught it they
should do it. But kids are kids and if they need reteaching and reaffirming
from us to bring them back to our expectations then that is OUR job and not
a fault of theirs. My ultimate goal is to have a smooth flowing reading
workshop (and day in general) so that we can do the work at hand. I've
found doing all the upfront work pays off in the end.
Pt. 3 in next email.
Ginger W.
grade 3
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