Unlocking the Power of Classroom Talk: Teaching Kids to Talk with Clarity and Purpose

by Shana Frazin, Katy Wischow

Shana Frazin and Katy Wischow passionately believe in the need to help students develop strong talk skills across the school day, in every subject, to prepare them for their academic lives and lives as active citizens outside of school. Using a unique "cycle" for talk that's similar to the writing process (generating, choosing, developing, acting, and reflecting), they name the predictable things we do most times we engage in a conversation, and show us how we can teach into those parts. Shana and Katy provide practical strategies for teaching four important purposes for talk that exist both in the classroom and in the real
- talking to build relationships
- talking to play with ideas
- talking to clarify, analyze, and argue
- talking to report.
They offer a clear description of each purpose, the "when and how" to teach into those purposes, and what to do when things go awry. Classroom video brings the content to life showing what the talk looks and sounds like in action. <!-- Begin blueconic lightbox variables --> <!-- End blueconic lightbox variables -->

Genres: Teaching, Education, Professional Development

160 pages, Paperback

Published September 20, 2019

Reviews

[Madison Kozeny · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book really challenged and pushed my thinking about talk in the classroom. I appreciated how it related the talk cycle to the writing process- I would like to see a version of the talk cycle and how it is embedded within / coincides with the writing process.

The authors present so many practical strategies that can be immediately implemented into the classroom as well. I can not wait to try them! The text also comes with helpful online resources. After reading this text, I feel inspired and rejuvenated.

It is odd that the text lacks a reflection / conclusion.

[Julie Suzanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this to be really useful and practical; no complaints! I learned that there are many things to explicitly teach and things to do to support students in talking to each other (classroom discussions to build learning) as well as presenting information (which I already had down). There is nothing missing in this book; resources include video clips of teachers putting this into practice with real students, visual aids, and very specific instructions for using these strategies and techniques in the elementary and middle school classroom, although I think it would work in HS as well.

[Elena Muzzi · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 bumped to a 4 for some truly gem strategies to get kids talking. I think I would have liked to see more models of how the cycle of talk lived out in the classroom when paired with a concrete text. There were some great strategies especially in the "Playing with Ideas" section as well as the "Assessing Talk section". That plus a codified broken down cycle of talk similar to the writing cycle make it worth the read to improve your pedagogy.

[Johanna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good ideas and reasoning behind prioritizing talk in the classroom. I am more convinced than ever that we learn so much more through talk but it’s hard to measure and teach. The first part of the book excited me because they promised a lot of examples for different disciplines but in the end, I think they could have provided a lot more specific examples on what this looks like in different classrooms. I still found many great takeaways though!

[Cindy · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book was broken into three sections: 1 - Foundations of Talk, 2 - Purposes for Talk, and 3 - Leveling Up Talk. The book also incorporated the importance of listening. There are SO many practical strategies and online resources.

After stressing the importance of reflection to close, I thought it was odd that the book just ended.

[Jenny · Rating 2 out of 5]

I think the TCRWP people are a little too fond of their workshop cycle and try to make everything fit into it. In this case, there is a lot of pushing the square peg of talk into a round hole of workshop. That said, there are some useful strategies and thinking in here to be more thoughtful in planning and using talk in the classroom in part 2.