Hands Down, Speak Out: Listening and Talking Across Literacy and Math

by Kassia Omohundro Wedekind, Christy Hermann Thompson

Math coach, Kassia Omohundro Wedekind and literacy coach, Christy Hermann Thompson, have spent years comparing notes on how to build effective classroom communities across the content areas. How, they wondered, can we lay the groundwork for classroom conversations that are less teacher-directed and more conducive to student-to-student dialogue? Their answers start with Hands-Down Conversations, an innovative discourse structure in which students' ideas and voices take the lead while teachers focus on listening and facilitating. In addition to classrom stories and examples, Christy and Kassia provide 28 micro-lessons designed to help K-5 students develop and excercise their speaking and listening muscles. Inside Hands Down, Speak Out you'll learn how Christy and Kassia believe that the development of dialogue skills is worth the investment of time not only becuase it has the power to deepen our understanding of literacy and mathematics, but also to deepen our understanding of ourselves, our communities, and the world.

Genres: Education

248 pages, Paperback

Published May 29, 2020

About the author

Kassia Omohundro Wedekind spent many wonderful years as a classroom teacher and math coach in Fairfax County Public Schools in Virginia and now splits her time between being an independent math coach and an editor at Stenhouse Publishers. Her favorite days are spent in classrooms learning from the many ways children talk, listen and negotiate meaning together. Kassia tweets at @kassiaowedekind and is @kassiaowedekind on Instagram.

Reviews

[Karen Kauo · Rating 3 out of 5]

As a 27+ year teaching veteran, I completely agree that student talk and discourse are essential to student success. I found some new ideas in this book, but overall did not care for some of the “Hands Down Conversation” micro lessons. Every class is different, teaching styles are different, and a lot in the book did not resonate with me. Although, for someone new to student talk, this would be a great intro to this classroom strategy.