The connection between home and
school is critical for academic success. One way that we can strengthen those
partnerships is to use our social media platforms to invite families into our
classrooms. Every classroom teacher is responsible for capturing one creative lesson or activity from their
classroom.
Please make sure that you email me 2-3
pictures along with a small blurb (2-3 sentences) of the activity/lesson by the
deadline below. I will share them on our social media pages—Facebook & Instagram.
Thank you for your contribution to our enrollment and attrition.
I am continuing my “Instructional Strategy”
series with an engagement technique that involves student discourse. Student
discourse is important because you can only get so far talkingATyour
students. When the conversation only flows in one direction with
students contributing simple responses, you miss out on a valuable opportunity
to dive deep into a topic.
That's why it’s really important to teach
students howto have a meaningful and valuable conversation with you, as
well as with their peers. This instructional strategy is called ACCOUNTABLE TALK!
WHAT IS ACCOUNTABLE TALK?
Accountable Talk is an intentional open-ended
conversation where participants listen, add on to each other's comments,
and use clarifying questions to make sure they are understanding what others
are saying.
WHY USE ACCOUNTABLE
TALK?
Accountable talk requires students to take an active role in
their learning. It requires students to focus on what other students are saying,
so they can actively participate.
1.It gives students an opportunity to participate in healthy
debating.In accountable talk, students are
encouraged to challenge and even disagree (respectfully, of course) with what
their peers are saying. In return, students learn to back up their opinions and
ideas with facts and details.
2.It supports reluctant talkers. It's easy for students to respond with "yes,"
"no," or other short responses - or even saying nothing at all. We
all know those students who just blend in to the conversation, not adding
anything of real value to the group's discussion. Accountable talk prompts
provide a scaffolded approach for students who may not know how to effectively
engage in a conversation.
HOW TO GET STARTED
WITH ACCOUNTABLE TALK?
Just like everything else you teach in your
classroom, students have to be explicitly taught how to have these
conversations with a lot of modeling and practice.
One way to introduce the concept of
accountable talk is to model for students with just one or two different
phrases. These may seem a
bit scripted, but it provides the necessary support for students who are just
learning how to have these conversations. Phrases like:
·Does
anyone think...
·I
agree/disagree because…
·Could
you explain…
You might first use Accountable Talk during a
conversation about a book that you are reading together as a class. Begin the
conversation by using one of the phrases "What do you think about (a
character....an event...). Invite other students to add on to the
conversation using other phrases.
It may feel a bit robotic at first, but it's
important to keep at it, and as you do, the conversations will begin to flow
smoother and more naturally. I suggest keeping posters visible like these. The more the students
see these phrases, the more likely they will begin using them.
The next step is to have students try out
accountable talk on their own in a small group and use more advanced phrases by
using these elementary
and/or middle schoolcards. You'll know students are ready when YOU are doing less coaxing of the
accountable talk phrases and find the conversations to flow more naturally.
If you haven't already discussed with your
students appropriate and inappropriate behavior during small group discussion,
you will definitely want to do that before using this instructional strategy. Use
a simple "Looks Like/Sounds Like" T-chart where you list behavioral
expectations.
See this instructional strategy being done
effectively below.
Does anyone want to play a game? Please join us on Friday, April 3 at
6:30 p.m. for a Staff Game Night via Zoom. I won’t provide you with the name of
the game, just yet, to avoid giving away an unfair advantaged. If you are
interested, please sign up below so I can form teams. Once I know how many
people will be playing, I will be sending out further communication to those
individuals. Let’s get ready for some fun.
