This month's newsletter focus is on instructional strategies for Turn and Talk. Turn and Talk is a powerful strategy that can be used in reading and writing mini-lessons, read aloud discussions, science, math, and social studies!

The first section of the newsletter has ideas for raising the rigor and the second section is about strategies for engagement. These strategies can help take Turn and Talk from a humdrum activity to a super powerful instructional tool!

Morris Grove staff, find the link in the newsletter to a short survey designed to give us feedback about future newsletter topics. All MGES staff members who complete the survey will be entered into a drawing for a $5 gift card of your choice to Barnes and Noble, Starbucks or Krispy Kreme. Hmmmm, books, donuts or coffee, oh my!

Give the students two concepts on a scale and ask them to discuss where they think something falls and be able to justify their answer. This works especially well with read alouds and some social studies topics. The scale can range from 0 or 1 to 5 to 10. Consider the age of the students and how wide the range of opinions may be when determining how small or large to make the scale.

Example- Decide where the father in Hansel and Gretel falls on a scale of good and evil.

In this example, evil would be 0 or 1 and good would be at the top end of the scale.

Asking students to select a number ensures there is variation in opinions. By having students justify their answers, they have to consolidate the information they have about a character, situation, etc. You can ask this at various points in the story or learning, especially if there is new information that might change the ratings children would give.

Other examples...

Selfish/ Generous

Lazy / Hardworking

Harsh / Kind

Dishonest / Trustworthy

Cowardly / Brave

Meek / Bold

Strong / Weak

Charitable / Greedy

Afters partners turn and talk, a quiet minute is provided for students to write down and summarize what they discussed. This can be written on a post it note, an index card or in a journal.

Same idea, different twist: After turn and talk ideas have been shared back with the whole group, children write down the big idea of what the class discussed to summarize the thinking shared.

The teacher asks all of the Partner A's or B's to share their thinking. The other partners are then asked to restate what their partner said and then to add on to the thinking.

"Whole Class Analysis. Teach students that the first idea is not always the best idea, that selecting the best ideas often require applying criteria carefully. This might sound like, 'Let’s look at some of the ideas we came up with and see which ones make the most sense.'"

excerpted from http://teachlikeachampion.com/blog/like-turn-talk-much-next-guy/

When you know a turn and talk moment is going to take a couple of minutes or more, consider letting the partners stand up and talk or walk and talk. When you first introduce walk and talk, allow some extra time to model and explain the procedures so that the talk remains productive.

Numbered Heads: Create groups of four to six students. Each child in the group is assigned a number from one to the maximum group size. The group is given a question, problem, etc. to discuss. After the discussion, the teacher selects a number and the child in each group that has that number shares the thinking from the group.

This strategy needs to be modeled, and an efficient way of numbering and grouping students should be considered in advance.

The video below is a great introduction to numbered heads.

Giving students time to think quietly before sharing with their partners gives students a chance to organize their thoughts and to be prepared to discuss the topic at hand. This strategy is often referred to as "Think-Pair-Share." Watch Think-Pair-Share in action in the video below!

Another variation is to give students time to think and write before sharing with their partners. This is sometimes called Stop-Jot-Share or Think-Ink-Share.

Start with having Partner A's and Partner B's discuss. Then have 2 partnerships join together to share their thinking.

"Circle Chat"

Adapted from "Circle Chat"

• Divide your class in half.
  
• Ask one half of the students stand in a circle with their backs to the middle of the circle.
  
• The remaining students will then form a circle facing the first circle. Each student should now be facing a partner. (Make a group of three students if necessary.)
• Give students about two minutes to discuss the topic they have been given. After two minutes, the students on the outer circle will take one step to the left so each student is now facing a new partner. (You may wish to use a signal letting students when it is time to rotate.) Students can discuss the same question or be given something different to discuss.
  
• Continue for as many rounds as desired.
  
• Conclude with a time for students to share ideas they discussed with their partners.