1. Using Oral Language to Check for understanding
Olivia Morris and Kaylee Harlamert

2. What is oral language?
The act of speaking and listening to communicate information

3. Types of Language Registers (Payne)
Fixed/ Frozen: reserved for traditions (Pledges)
Formal: public speaking at work or school (Presentations)
Consultative: conversation with peers
Casual: conversation with peers
Intimate: close friends and family
Fixed: Pledge of Allegiance
Formal: Presentations

4. Oral Language Development
Occurs naturally and with little effort
Speaking proficiently takes work and attention
Foundation of print literacy

6. Grade goals for speaking and listening
Can repeat small phrases and easily talk about familiar things
Can respond appropriately to conversation
3-5
Can present ideas clearly and play to the audience’s interests
Various types of formal presentations

7. Perceived skill level
Teachers with high achieving students talk 55% of time
Teachers with low achieving students talk 80% of the time
“The amount the teacher versus student talks varies by the demographic of the students.”
Boys are also more likely to be called on than girls

8. Discussion Questions:
Why do you think that teachers of lower achieving classrooms talk more than teachers with higher- achieving classrooms?
What are some factors that may play into this?
Why would the amount of time girls talk in the classroom decline as they age? Why do teachers tend to call on them less?
Why is oral language the foundation of print literacy?
“Remember that the lower achieving classrooms consist of more students below the poverty line, English Language Learners (ELL’s), students with disabilities, and other at-risk students.”

9. Oral Language Strategies: Accountable Talk
How to help students engage in meaningful partner conversation:
Clarify and explain
Ask to justify information
Challenge misconceptions
Demand Evidence
Interpret and use partner’s statements
** Pay attention to conversations to help aid your lessons**

10. Strategy: Notice Nonverbal Cues
Significant amount of social cues come from expressions
Looks of confusion can be a quick cue that they aren’t fully understanding
This can help guide teacher to modify instruction during the lesson.
How would you adjust your lesson if you saw cues of confusion?

11. 1. Strongly Disagree 5. Strongly Agree Value Lineups
Help students analyze beliefs of concepts and then hear other’s beliefs about the concept
First, they decide if they agree or disagree with statement
Second, they listen to others talk about the topic
Third, they discuss and compare their beliefs with others
1. Strongly Disagree
5. Strongly Agree

12. Retellings
They retell and condense large sections of text in their own words
This checks for understanding
Procedures:
Explain purpose of a retelling is to re-create the text in your own words.
Ask students to discuss the ways in which they talk with friends

13. Retelling procedures
Model a retelling from a short piece of familiar text for students.
Have students to discuss the similarities and differences between the original and the retelling.
Read aloud new text and create a retelling as a class. Then have students to discuss the similarities and differences between the original and the retelling for new text.

14. Think-Pair-Share
Allows students to discuss with peers before sharing ideas in front of the whole-class
Steps:
Think: After teacher presents something to engage student’s thinking, they take a few minutes to think about it on their own.
Pair: The students discuss ideas with a partner and compare ideas.
Share: The pairs share their ideas with the whole class.
Lessens students’ nervousness about presenting in front of the class because they get “practice” with their partner
Gives students a chance to bounce ideas off of each other and come up with even more ideas
Increases class comrodery
With high school students – they share their partner’s idea instead of their own!

15. Misconception Analysis
Misconceptions: preconceived notions, nonscientific beliefs, mixed conceptions, or conceptual misunderstandings
“provides students an opportunity to discuss, often in small groups, misunderstandings that they have.”
Teacher presents new information or allows students to discuss their own understanding of concept within a group

16. Whip Around
Helps teacher assess understanding of the whole class, not individuals
Steps:
The teacher poses a question or a task
Students make a list of items/ideas on a scrap piece of paper
Students all stand and teacher calls on each student to share idea off of paper
Other students check off items that are said by another student and sit down when all of their ideas have been shared
When all ideas have been shared, all the students will be sitting

17. Conclusion
Oral Language is a great way to check for understanding because it involves speaking and listening
Communicating ideas and knowledge leads to better overall understanding and is an efficient way to test what your students know