Engage Every Student with Talk Moves

Require Students to Listen During Conversations with Talk Moves
When facilitating whole-class conversations, every student is not always engaged. When one student has the floor, typically the others--the ones who weren't called on--will check out and tune out.
These "discussions" run more like a Q & A than an exchange and sharing of ideas. To change this dynamic, provide students with explicit instruction on how to engage in academic conversations. This might include an introduction to Talk Moves.
Begin with explicit instruction of a couple Talk Moves
When Talk Moves have been established, students are expected to listen in order to respond. Rather than every student taking the discussion in their own direction, use Talk Moves to develop the current conversation.
I AGREE: They can respond in agreement, chiming in their similar sentiments.
I'd like to ADD ON: They may find the initial answer incomplete. This concept of "adding on" may include providing another example, pointing out another reason, or developing the explanation further.
I DISAGREE: They can take the conversation in the opposite direction by disagreeing with the initial answer. This includes sharing alternative theories, different perspectives, or known contradictions.
Just as their name implies, Talk Moves are different ways to move the academic conversation in order to keep it going. It gives students various ways to enter the conversation, deepen the discussion, and/or transition the thinking. This added facet will have students leaning in and listening to each other.
Include the hand signals to help students engage.
While introducing each Talk Move individually and explicitly, consider revealing a corresponding hand signal. There are many advantages to the hand gestures. Two in particular include:
The teacher knows who is engaged (and thinking like the speaker) without calling on every student with his hand up.
When different hand signals appear, the teacher can facilitate a more organized conversation by calling on those who will add on information before pivoting to those who disagree entirely.
Introduce additional Talk Moves and weave them into the content areas.
The Talk Moves for Answer, Agree, Add on, and Disagree are best for initial instruction. Then, depending on the content, add in a few more.
I can SUPPORT: When a peer can provide textual evidence for someone's inference, they should signal that they have support.
I can CLARIFY: Sometimes the first student's answer comes out less than coherent. This makes it hard for the rest of the class to then decide how to respond. In those cases, it's powerful when a peer indicates he can clarify or restate what was initially said--rather than the teacher doing all the work.
It's possible that you won't use all of these Talk Moves; it's also possible you'll need to invent some new ones. That's what Amanda Studer found herself doing with her students at St. Raphael Catholic School in Naperville, IL. She created two additional hand signals. Her students wanted a way to indicate when they didn't hear the first answer and another signal for when they heard it but didn't understand it.
I can REPEAT: When students didn't hear the original answer, they can't agree, disagree, or add on. They need someone to repeat the information.
I'm CONFUSED: Students signal when they are not understanding, in order for others to chime in with clarification.
Whether facilitating academic conversations in math, science, ELA, or social studies, Talk Moves are a powerful tool. They will transition your students away from simply answering teacher questions in a one-way monologue to engaging in true conversations with peers in a dialogue.
Visit the article to view two videos of classrooms using the Talk Moves strategy.
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