Listen and Talk—Engaging All Students

Our goal is to provide opportunities for all our students to learn at a deep level, feel comfortable voicing their opinions and ideas, and support others as they share their thoughts.

Calling on each student individually during each and every lesson is not feasible, but Turn, Listen, and Talk provides each student with opportunities to hear other ideas and be heard themselves not just once, but many times during a lesson. Students enhance and expand their thinking through these brief, focused conversations that also give them a brain break from direct instruction.

I introduce the purpose and the steps of Turn, Listen, and Talk for all students to be successful. The group practices the steps, the first of which is choosing a partner. Although we typically introduce Turn, Listen, and Talk this way, several of our colleagues teach the same procedure but with assigned seats and buddies, gradually releasing to what you see in the video. 

In this second of a two-part series, I move from teaching Turn, Listen, and Talk to inviting the students to use the strategy. The purpose of Turn, Listen, and Talk is for all students to be engaged in whole-class lessons by giving them a chance to get their voices, ideas, and thoughts in the room while also hearing what a classmate thinks about the same subject. Listen in and watch as the whole class practices Turn, Listen, and Talk.