Across the Curriculum West Jacksonville Elementary A. Bright and L. Derby

Accountable Talk – What? Talking with others about ideas and work is fundamental to learning. But, not all talk sustains learning. For classroom talk to promote learning it must be accountable – to the learning community, to accurate and appropriate knowledge, and to rigorous thinking.

Accountable Talk – What? seriously responds to and further develops what others in the group have said puts forth and demands knowledge that is accurate and relevant to the issue under discussion requires active listening uses evidence appropriate to the discipline (e.g., proof in mathematics, data from experiments in science, textual details in literature, documentary sources in history) and follows established norms of good reasoning All teachers must intentionally create the norms and skills of accountable talk in their classrooms

ACCOUNTABILITY and ACCOUNTABLE TALK Knowledge Rigorous Thinking Learning Community

“As classroom teachers we are really effective at teaching students how to monologue, NOT how to dialogue.” THINK ABOUT IT! What does this mean?

Accountable Talk In classrooms where high levels of student engagement and accountable talk is prevalent:

Students are able to explain the relationship between the discussion and the stated learning objective. The teacher and students ask questions that require synthesis, analysis, problem solving, and application of learning. Students return to the text and other data sources to support their positions or challenge positions taken by others in the discussion. All students take an active role in discussions, using agreed upon norms. Anchor charts that outline norms for discussions and specific group discussion strategies are displayed.

The teacher uses different discussion strategies and routines (i.e. pairs, small group, full class, turn and talk, think- pair-share; fishbowl, inside/outside circles,) appropriate to the lesson’s learning objective and the learning needs of students. The teacher models these strategies and routines and gradually releases responsibility to students for leading discussions, with the teacher periodically acting as a participant or facilitator. Students and the teacher use rubrics to assess the quality of classroom discussions (content and process). The teacher observes discussions and uses observation data to inform instruction (conference logs).

 MATH WORKSHOP  READERS WORKHSOP  WRITERS WORKSHOP  SCIENCE WORKSHOP

Accountable Talk Rubric 4 Discusses activity at all times Uses target vocabulary Gives multiple reasons for answers including strategies used Includes non-speakers Creates a respectful learning community 3 Discusses activity the majority of the time Uses some target vocabulary Gives reason(s) for answers including strategies used Includes some non-speakers Creates a respectful learning community 2  Discusses activity some of the time Uses little target vocabulary Gives answers without reasons or strategies Does not include non-speakers Attempts to create a respectful learning community 1  Does not discuss activity Uses no target vocabulary Gives answers without reasons or strategies Does not include non-speakers Does not attempt to create a respectful learning community

ILLUSTRATING STRATEGIES Classroom posters ILLUSTRATING STRATEGIES to help facilitate talk.

(Yourself) (With a partner) (Whole class)

Why? Tell me more! Give an example.

Defend your reasoning against a different point of view.

How did you arrive at your answer?

Redirect a question back to the person.

Make one’s thinking public and demonstrate expert forms of reasoning through talk.

Restate and make public a person or group’s discussion and understanding.

Ensure that everyone is heard and understands what a person says.

Make explicit the relationship between a new contribution and what was said before.

Revoice a person’s contributions.

Hold everyone accountable for the accuracy, credibility, and clarity of their contributions.

Tie a current contribution back to knowledge accumulated by a person or the class at a pervious time.

Press for evidence and understanding of a person’s statements.

Give extra time and space in the conversation to expand reasoning.

YES/NO CARDS THINK CARDS (GREEN AND ORANGE) 5 FINGERS HEADS DOWN/HANDS UP

One idea I had was… To add to his/her (__________’s) idea, I was thinking… My idea was similar to his/hers… My idea was different from his/hers… Could you please explain what you mean so I can understand better ? Can you point out in the text where you got that idea? I hear what you are saying…can you show me the evidence from the text to support that statement?

I think/don’t think ____ is right because… That’s an interesting way to think of … My idea is similar to… That reminds me of… What I’m hearing you say is… You’re saying that… In other words… I still have a question about…

As I was saying… Could you say that again? In my opinion, Gee, I hadn’t thought of that… Did you mean? My evidence from the text is on page_____, where it says, “_____________________.” I agree/don’t agree with (name) because… I see what you mean…

What to Look For: This video highlights a Second Grade class during Reader’s Workshop. In typical mini-lesson format, the teacher shares with the students what she noticed when she conferred with them during their independent reading time..

LOOK FORS... In what ways are these students holding themselves accountable to the community? to a standard of reasoning? How might the classroom conversation seen here help students become better readers? What strategies that we have covered today were highlighted in the video?

What will this look like in your classroom? What are your first steps in accomplishing this?

References Adapted from ach/priorities06-07.pdf ach/priorities06-07.pdf Principles of Learning: Study Tools for Educators. CDRom, University of Pittsburgh, 2003.