Students talk a lot. Their minds are on fire with what matters to them, and it has to come out. What someone said at recess about shoes, hair, clothes, the birthday party invitation, the video game, the basketball game, the game of tag. What parents want. Worries. Middle school. Talk is their natural state of being.
Talk is a gold mine. My task is to harness it with a purpose worth pursuing in the classroom.
This week I took a close look at book club talk. We’ve had lessons on using talk prompts; we’ve practiced using them; I’ve posted them on charts, but students weren’t using them to dig deeper.
On Tuesday evening, I was looking in my closet, and I found name tags. Hmm. What if students wore these as thought prompts? Imagine: “Hi! my name is — I agree, and I’d like to add on to that… ”
A student stopped by and asked what I was doing. I mentioned my idea. He thought about it; said it might be confusing. So I stuck the label on a card. And asked, what about a game card to play? He smiled.
The next day, the cards were introduced to club talk. The prompts were no different than the ones on the chart, but they worked. Ideas were growing, and the talk was book centered. Was it because they could be picked up, or was it because they were called game cards? Whatever the reason, they are magical devices.
Talk is a necessary and natural part of argument writing. This week reading clubs considered the debate on lifting the cell phone ban in New York City schools. Each group a created pro and con chart. Each student had articles and post-its to contribute on either side. They moved and regrouped post-its.
It was a messy and talk-fulled process.
This week I’m celebrating talk as an integral part of learning to read, write and think. Here’s to the mess and the noise of learning.
As always, thank you, Ruth, for your weekly call to celebrate. Read more celebration posts here.
To Read To Write To Be 
We’ve had a few PDs on “Accountable Talk.” For me , it’s just how my kids usually roll. However we have times when the conversation strays way off the track. We call that “peanut butter.” A student early in my gifted teaching coined the phrase and it stuck.
The idea of using game cards is great. Motivation tools are sometimes necessary to get students to do what you know is good for them. Glad it worked.
Always thinking, Julieanne – and it always pays off for your kids. I’m going to keep this idea in mind!
Just read Tara’s post and your comment, which makes me reply that you are the magic that happen in your class, cards are just a prop. 🙂 Love the thinking that happens around you.
I agree with Elsie, too. The magic happens with your watching, listening, & helping students know that to try new things will be good! I love seeing the groups meeting in the pictures!
Isn’t it funny how we can take something that is in front of them every day and present it in a new, ‘fun’ way and the excitement and engagement are cranked up as if they have never seen it before? Glad you are celebrating.
I agree with all of the above, the prompts worked because you were flexible enough to listen to your students say this not that…. and go with it.
Talk can be so useful for learning. Glad you were able to tweak your process to help students stay focused.
Love this idea of making prompts “game cards.” And celebrating the talking that is part of the mess and noise of learning!