Productive classroom talk

Below are a number of resources for teaching about productive talk in the science classroom. Please let me know if I'm missing any important resources.

Ambitious Science Teaching (University of Washington)

• Provides resources for supporting ambitious science teaching at the secondary level centered around the Science Learning Framework.

• Specific classroom talk items include:

  • How to manage talk in your classroom: A discourse primer (pdf)

Talk Science Professional Development (The Inquiry Project)

• Provides resources for productive classroom talk in science at the elementary level.  Resources include:

  • Talk science primer (pdf)

  • Checklist: Goals for productive discussions and nine talk moves (pdf)

  • Video examples of productive talk strategies in general and in classrooms (video)

Responsive Teaching in Science (The Responsive Teaching Project)

• Provides resources for attending to students' ideas in the classroom.

  • Examples linked to NGSS

  • Primer on productive student ideas

  • Establishing and maintaining class norms that support responsive teaching

STEM Teaching Tools (University of Washington)

• Provides a myriad of resources including the following related to productive talk:

  • How can teachers guide classroom conversations to support students’ science learning?

  • How Can I Get My Students to Learn Science by Productively Talking with Each Other?

  • How can I foster curiosity and learning in my classroom? Through talk!

Doing and Talking Math and Science (University of Wisconsin-Madison)

• Provides a number of great resources for classroom discourse for both math and science classrooms.

  • Doing and talking science guide

  • Student and Teacher Moves Tool Cards

General resources

• 5 Practices for Orchestrating Task-Based Discussions in Science (Cartier, Smith, Stein, & Ross, 2013)

• Ready, Set, SCIENCE! (NRC, 2008) (science) (Chapter 5 - Making Thinking Visible: Talk and Argument)

• Academic Conversations: Classroom That Fosters Critical Thinking and Content Understandings (Zwiers & Crawford, 2011) (general)

• Promoting Purposeful Discourse (NCTM, 2009) (math)

• 5 Practices for Orchestrating Productive Mathematics Discussions (NCTM, 2011) (math)

• Whole Class Mathematics Discussions: Improving In-Depth Mathematical Thinking and Learning (Lamberg, 2013) (math)

• Classroom Discussions: Using Math Talk to Help Students Learn (Chapin, O'Connor & Anderson, 2009) (math)

• How to Promote Engagement, Understanding, and Independence for All Learners (Ritchhart, Church & Morrison, 2011) (general)

• The Power of Our Words: Teacher Language That Helps Children Learn (Denton, 2007) (general)

• Connecting Mathematical Ideas: Middle School Video Cases to Support Teaching and Learning (Boaler & Humphreys, 2005) (math) (example videos)

• Seeing the Science in Children's Thinking: Case Studies of Student Inquiry in Physical Science (Hammer & van Zee, 2006) (science) (example videos)

• Leading a whole class discussion (Lampert et al., 2013) (TeachingWorks seminar) (math)

Academic resources

• Aguiar, O. G., Mortimer, E. F., & Scott, P. (2010). Learning from and responding to students' questions: The authoritative and dialogic tension. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 47(2), 174-193.

• Chin, C. (2007). Teacher questioning in science classrooms: Approaches that stimulate productive thinking. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 44(6), 815-843.

• Lemke, J. L. (1990). Talking science: Language, learning, and values. Westport, CT: Greenwood Publishing Group.

• Scott, P., & Mortimer, E. F. (2003). Meaning making in secondary science classrooms. Buckingham, UK: Open University Press.

• Van Zee, E., & Minstrell, J. (1997). Using questioning to guide student thinking. The Journal of the Learning Sciences, 6(2), 227-269.

• Vygotsky, L. S. (1978). Mind in Society: The Development of Higher Psychological Processes. Harvard University Press.