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Talking About What We Know and Think
No comments · Posted by readers1 in Language in the Classroom
By Sara Finegan
I cannot stress enough the importance of teaching kids how to talk and listen about meaningful things. The practice of explicitly teaching vocabulary, modeling proper use of words and word choices, and helping kids learn how to phrase their thoughts must be embedded in our instruction and included in all of our planning. This applies to every single subject area.
When I think about what I want the kids in my class to be able to DO in their oral and written communication, I come up with the following skills:
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To summarize, in their own words, what they are doing, reading, and learning, or what someone else told them.
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To describe with powerful and explicit vocabulary events, ideas, and feelings.
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To use complex sentences and grammatical concepts to convey ideas.
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To describe their thinking process as they approach a problem or a task.
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To understand and be able to present or identify an idea with supporting details.
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To organize and share their thinking in an organized fashion.
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To be able to engage in interactive discussions about meaningful topics using responsive listening and accountable talk.
I’m sure there’s more, but that’s what I come up with right now. Daunting, no? Especially if you take a look at what the kids can do, language-wise, when they walk into your classroom for the first time.
If your students are anything like mine, the first months of talk sound something like this:
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“The guy went, well, let’s go get some stuff to eat, so they did.”
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<shrug> (one of my favorite answers to any question)
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“She wanted to go to that one place, so they did.”
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“The Ancient Mesopotamia people had canals for to water the ground where they grew stuff.” (this from a child who was asked to use the word “canals” in relation to Mesopotamian farming)
And how many of us have prepared social studies or science worksheets and received them back with one-word answers?
I send them back.
In separate posts, I’ll describe what I work on with my students to raise the level, depth, and bredth of their use of language.
In a demanding classroom.
demanding classroom · high expectations · learning disabled · modeling · rigor · rigorous instruction · Sara Finegan · special education · standards · vocabulary
