January 7, 2022 | Neither silence nor unrestrained chitchat is ideal in an elementary classroom, McREL learning services consultant Cheryl Abla writes in Edutopia. Rather, teachers should guide students in discussing their learning with the teacher and with one another—building a foundation for mastering academic language. Teachers may be hesitant to encourage student talk because they fear chaos may ensue, and Cheryl admits the process can be noisy. But there are practices that teachers can easily implement and model to create conversational structures that support learning.
Cheryl shares three of these techniques: Red Line, Blue Line; Numbered Heads Together; and Dance–Freeze–Share. You may be amazed how these fun activities liven up the classroom while getting the kids talking about exactly the things you want them to be talking about!
Read the Edutopia post
