TURN AND TALK
Although this strategy is called many things (one popular label is think-pair-share), essentially what you want the students to do is turn and talk to a neighbor, so we will call this strategy "Turn and Talk."
This is a fairly easy strategy that is easy to implement on the fly without a lot of planning. However, it is a strategy that needs to be practiced as you would practice a procedure because it can easy be a "turn and talk" about non-content related material.
Here are the simple steps to an effective turn and talk:
1. Present a question you want students to think about.
2. Give them time to write a short response (30 seconds to 2 minutes).
3. Ask them to turn to their shoulder partner, table partner, whatever you want to call it and discuss the question you posed.
4. Make sure your paired discussion lasts only 1-2 minutes.
5. Share out with the entire group.
Some of the pitfalls to avoid with this strategy:
Tips for a successful Turn and Talk:
1. Set clear expectations. Here is an example: "Turn to your partner and discuss whether you agree or disagree with John's statement. I want you to give one reason for your thinking. Then you need to listen to your partner's opinion and reason. You have one minute. Go." When you make the expectations very clear, you will get better results.
2. Observe while students are discussing. This is not time to check your e-mail! You need to listen to the discussion because it may guide your next step in the lesson. It will also be good for you to offer feedback on their Turn and Talk so the practice gets better.
3. Keep it short. 30-90 seconds is generally all the time you need to give for this activity.
4. Look for pairs who consistently do not talk. As soon as you open the discussion time, head to them and help jumpstart the discussion. Repeat the question or directions, ask students to tell you what they're thinking, etc. Just make sure you don't spend too long with one group. You need to move to gauge a pulse of the room.
5. When it's over, make sure you have one or two groups share out. It isn't important to have too many unless you know a group making great points you think everyone needs to hear.
When should you have the class turn and talk?
Although this strategy is called many things (one popular label is think-pair-share), essentially what you want the students to do is turn and talk to a neighbor, so we will call this strategy "Turn and Talk."
This is a fairly easy strategy that is easy to implement on the fly without a lot of planning. However, it is a strategy that needs to be practiced as you would practice a procedure because it can easy be a "turn and talk" about non-content related material.
Here are the simple steps to an effective turn and talk:
1. Present a question you want students to think about.
2. Give them time to write a short response (30 seconds to 2 minutes).
3. Ask them to turn to their shoulder partner, table partner, whatever you want to call it and discuss the question you posed.
4. Make sure your paired discussion lasts only 1-2 minutes.
5. Share out with the entire group.
Some of the pitfalls to avoid with this strategy:
- Giving them too long to talk. Giving them longer than 2 minutes generally leads to them getting off topic or having time to misbehave.
- Make sure the question is something that would need discussion. If the question is too low-level or unimportant, there really isn't anything to discuss.
- Not setting clear examples. This is where practicing turn and talk as a procedure is a must. Tell them specifically what you want them to talk about and how they should discuss.
Tips for a successful Turn and Talk:
1. Set clear expectations. Here is an example: "Turn to your partner and discuss whether you agree or disagree with John's statement. I want you to give one reason for your thinking. Then you need to listen to your partner's opinion and reason. You have one minute. Go." When you make the expectations very clear, you will get better results.
2. Observe while students are discussing. This is not time to check your e-mail! You need to listen to the discussion because it may guide your next step in the lesson. It will also be good for you to offer feedback on their Turn and Talk so the practice gets better.
3. Keep it short. 30-90 seconds is generally all the time you need to give for this activity.
4. Look for pairs who consistently do not talk. As soon as you open the discussion time, head to them and help jumpstart the discussion. Repeat the question or directions, ask students to tell you what they're thinking, etc. Just make sure you don't spend too long with one group. You need to move to gauge a pulse of the room.
5. When it's over, make sure you have one or two groups share out. It isn't important to have too many unless you know a group making great points you think everyone needs to hear.
When should you have the class turn and talk?
- When you are asking an agree/disagree type of question. You can do the "thumbs up, thumbs down, thumbs sideways" to see if there is a lot of discrepancy in the group. If you see a lot of differences, turn and talk would be a great method to use. If you see a lot of sameness, turn and talk will not be a effective.
- If it's a robust question with lots of meat to it or if you are trying to get the students to learn a difficult concept. Turn and talk can be a powerful teaching tool to reiterate deeper content.
- When a student asks a question and you want the kids to consider it. Anytime a student asks a deep question, use turn and talk to foster conversation...and give you time to consider the question as well!
- When you want students to make a prediction, hypothesis, or conjecture, allowing students to talk it out with a partner is sometimes easier than trying to do a whole group answer.
- When you are trying to gauge students' prior knowledge about a topic.
- When you are preparing to write a larger piece of work.
- When you ask a question and NO ONE offers an answer, you know that's a great time to have them turn and talk it out.