1. Substantive Conversations in the Classroom.
e5-Elaborate-The teacher engages students in dialogue, continuously extending and refining students’ understandings
Capabilities
1.Facilitates substantive conversations
2. Cultivates higher order thinking
3. Monitors progress
F.Brown

2. The Elaborate Domain- profile statements
Level 1
The teacher uses strategies to involve all students in focussed conversations to generate student thinking about the key concepts.
Level 2. Teachers incorporate wait time to allow the students to consider the ideas and construct their responses. The teacher structures conversations, acknowledging the value of students ideas and using these to build individual and collective understanding. They group children according to the purpose of the conversation.
Level 3. the teacher negotiates conversational protocols which support all students to make meaningful contributions built on and challenging one another’s ideas.
Level 4. The teacher structures opportunities for students to sustain a conversation, deepening individual and collective understanding. They support students to critique the intellectual rigour of the conversation.
F.Brown

3. Why are Conversations So Important?
Conversations engage learners.
Conversations allow us to engage the children in their own learning.
Engaging children in conversations and listening to their ideas gives them a voice in our classrooms.
Conversations show we value and respect children’s thinking and learning.
Children feel more connected to and therefore participate more fully in all kinds of learning experiences.
Talking allows ideas and vocabulary to grow.
When children listen to others their thinking grows.
Participating in substantive conversations gives children the opportunities to practise and use skills in questioning, reflecting, planning, evaluating and to make connections to essential skills for learning.
Conversations allow children to develop a view of themselves as people who have positive contributions to make to the world around them.
Children find more purpose in learning experiences that explore their own ideas about things through conversations.
Children are motivated, through conversations, to search and find answers to their questions to build their own understanding.
Teachers benefit from conversations by increasing insight into children’s understandings, ideas and confusions.
Teachers use this knowledge to help plan an engaging and challenging learning environment for the children in their class.
F.Brown

4. When we allow children to have substantive conversations we have classrooms that:-
Learners voices are heard the most
Teachers talk to seek to discover children’s ideas
Children talk to each other.
Conversations stretch children’s thinking
Children’s interests, explorations and questions are connected.
F.Brown

5. To allow substantive conversations to take place we need to:-
Provide time and space for conversations throughout the day.
Encourage conversations between children as well as between teacher and child/ren.
Share interest in children’s thinking and ideas by listening intently.
Document conversations and use them to reveal learning.
REMEMBER
Talk organizes thinking
Language reveals prior knowledge
Conversations provide a context for social learning.
F.Brown

6. Conversations can be Facilitated Spontaneous
1. Help make connections
2. Allow children to explore ideas more fully
3. The teacher takes amore active role
4. Allows teacher to talk and listen to conversations / ideas around a particular topic
Spontaneous
This form of conversation is more useful in conversations around experiences.
F.Brown

7. Conversations can be Whole group
Children’s ideas are stretched by listening to the experiences and ideas of others.
Children are drawn into conversations by listening to others.
Children use talk to organize their learning and to organize their learning environment.
Teachers discover possibilities for future learning from listening to children
Children and teacher have a planned structure for conversation
Immediate responses to questions/ concerns
Children demonstrate a greater respect for others ideas and work.
Children interact more with one another and co operation increases
Children seek help from one another.
F.Brown

8. Conversations can be Small group One to one
Allows for greater participation by all children
Easier to organize
Easier to look deeper into children’s ideas
Provides closer link between conversation and experience
Provides a safe environment for children unsure of large groups
Allows for greater participation for more children
One to one
Allows for a closer relationship between teacher and individual child
Allows time to discover more information child may not have shared in group situation
Is supportive of children having difficulties
Allows teacher to model positive attitude and interactions with a child
F.Brown

9. Facilitating conversations
1.Listen carefully
Listen intently
Give up control of conversation to children
Honour children’s ideas
Start small
2.Embrace silence
Allow children time to collect their thoughts
This may allow another child an opportunity to contribute
Breaks the cycle of teacher-child-teacher
3. Ask good questions
Ask open ended or fat questions that delve deeper into children’s thinking
Allow for multiple answers
Connect experiences or ideas
Clarify and focus ideas
F.Brown

10. Facilitating conversations
4.Help children develop good conversational skills
Thinking aloud building vocabulary for conversations
Taking turns
Staying on topic
5.Summarize conversations
Keep conversations on track and focussed
6. Use memory tools
Reading scribed conversations to children
Recording conversations
Photographs
Objects as reminders ex. A shell to remind a child of an excursion to the beach.
7. Bring conversations to a close.
F.Brown