Communication Skills

Fostering Productive
Academic Discussions
 Overview/Objectives

1. Identify the benefits and challenges of increasing students’ academic

communication.
2. Describe what academically productive talk looks like and sounds like.
3. Explain the difference between communication skills and
communication supports, and provide examples of each.
4. Given a lesson objective, list 2 possible communication skills and 2
possible communication supports that could be used in the lesson.
 Why talk?

"Language has made possible man's progress

from animality to civilization."

Aldous Huxley, p 167

 Why talk?

“Language permits its users to pay attention to things, persons

and events, even when the things and persons are absent and the
events are not taking place. Language gives definition to our
memories and, by translating experiences into symbols, converts
the immediacy of craving or abhorrence, or hatred or love, into
fixed principles of feeling and conduct.”

Aldous Huxley, pp 167-168

 Why talk?
ORACY
The ability to express oneself fluently &
grammatically in speech. Proficiency in oral
expression & comprehension.
1:55
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C5iA_asc1Xk
• Silent, visual description of the importance of talk with UK statistics
 Why talk?
• edTPA:
Communication skill & support required for edTPA lessons.
• Danielson Framework:
Productive academic discussion is one of the items you will be
evaluated on using the Danielson Framework.
• CCSS – Specific Domains
e.g. Math Practice Standards - Next slide
 Math Standard #3:
Construct viable arguments and critique the
reasoning of others.
• understand and use stated assumptions, definitions, and previously established results in
constructing arguments.
• make conjectures and build a logical progression of statements to explore the truth of their
conjectures.
• analyze situations by breaking them into cases
• recognize and use counterexamples.
• justify their conclusions, communicate them to others, and respond to the arguments of others.
• reason inductively about data, making plausible arguments that take into account the context
• compare the effectiveness of plausible arguments
• distinguish correct logic or reasoning from that which is flawed
• elementary students construct arguments using objects, drawings, diagrams, and actions..
• later students learn to determine domains to which an argument applies.
• listen or read the arguments of others, decide whether they make sense, and ask useful questions
 Math Standard #3:
Construct viable arguments and critique the
reasoning of others.
• understand and use stated assumptions, definitions, and previously established results in
constructing arguments.
• make conjectures and build a logical progression of statements to explore the truth of their
conjectures.
• analyze situations by breaking them into cases
• recognize and use counterexamples.
• justify their conclusions, communicate them to others, and respond to the arguments of others.
• reason inductively about data, making plausible arguments that take into account the context
• compare the effectiveness of plausible arguments
• distinguish correct logic or reasoning from that which is flawed
• elementary students construct arguments using objects, drawings, diagrams, and actions..
• later students learn to determine domains to which an argument applies.
• listen or read the arguments of others, decide whether they make sense, and ask useful questions
 Why talk?

ORACY – The Power of Talk

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ADAY9AQm54
• ORACY – School 21, Stratford England: 6:03
• Has good intro/overview of value of talk & handout:
https://www.edutopia.org/practice/oracy-classroom-strategies-effective-talk
 Closed Versus Open Questions

• Closed questions  short answers (1-5 words)

• How much is 2 + 3?
• How many apples did you count?
• Who was the first president of the United States?
• Open questions  longer, more complex responses
• Explain how you got that answer.
• Why do you think that?
• Justify your answer. How do you know that is correct?
 Why talk?
Five Reasons Why Talk is Critical to Teaching & Learning
1. Talk can reveal students’ understanding and misunderstandings.
(i.e provides formative assessment)
2. Talk supports robust learning by building memory.
(Repetition; Multiple examples; More time focusing on a topic)
3. Talk supports deeper reasoning.
(Students have an opportunity to hear others’ responses & refine their answers)
4. Talk supports language development through practice & modeling.
5. Talk supports the development of social skills.
What are the Obstacles?
What makes an academic discussion successful?
Let’s focus on these Communication Skills:

Students should be able to:

1. Share their own thoughts.
2. Understand & respond to the thinking
of others
 1. Communication Skills That Require
Students to Share Their Own Thoughts
• State / write their answer.
• State the answer in a complete sentence.
• Explain / describe what they did / how they determined the
answer.
• Explain why they approached a problem a certain way.
• Explain their reasoning.
• Provide evidence to support an answer.
• Justify their idea / answer.
 Sample Questions
• Why do you think that?
• What is your evidence?
• How did you get that answer?
• How did you know to do it that way?
• What convinced you that was the right answer?
• Why did you think that answer would work?
• Where in the text is there support for that claim?
• Can you prove that to us?
• What makes you think that?
• (1.4a2 – 1:14 – Can you prove it? 4th grade 1.4a4 – 2:42)
 Communication Supports:
Help Students Share Their Thoughts
• Provide Time to Think:
• Wait Time
• Stop & Jot
• Provide Time to Practice:
• Turn & Talk (1.2a4 – 0:44)
• Expand Utterance / Say more . . . (1.2c1 – 1:02; 1.2c4 0:57) –
• Clarify / Revoicing: So you are saying . . .? (1.2b4 – 0:50)(1.2b1 – 1:54)
Communication Supports that Help Individuals
Clarify & Share Their Own Thoughts

SENTENCE FRAMES / SENTENCE STEMS

• https://www.teachingchannel.org/videos/sentence-frames-ousd
• Language Supports for Number talks: 2:48
• 2nd grade ELL teacher introduces sentences frames and shows examples.
2. Communication Skills that Require Students
to Understand the Thinking of Others

• Restate in own words / Paraphrase

• Ask questions to clarify what was said
• Respond to others’ ideas
• Build on others’ ideas
 2. Sample Questions
• Who can repeat? Who can say that again?
• Who can put that into their own words?
• Who can restate what ___ just said?
1.3a.1 (1:57) Kdg counting groups
• After Turn & Talk: Tell us what your partner said.
• Sentence Stems work here, too:
Example: Talk Moves in Language arts: (2:35) 8th grade teacher explains and shows sentence
stems to respond to others https://www: .teachingchannel.org/videos/teaching-ells
to-participate-in-discussions-ousd
• 1.3a2 - :0:48
 What supports will help students
understand/respond to the thinking of others?
 Application
• Pick ONE of these objectives:
1. The student will use blocks to model basic multiplication fact
problems. e.g. 2x3 = 4 x 6=
2. Given a passage at the 3rd grade level, the student will find evidence in
the text to answer literal comprehension questions.
3. Students will identify the character in the story that they most
admire, and explain why they admire that character.

• For your objective:

1. Write one communication skill that you could work on in this lesson.
2. Create a communication support that you could use to help the
student(s) successfully demonstrate this communication skill.
 Summary

What is the most striking take-away

you gleaned from these examples
and your process of discussing and
analyzing them?