Turn & Talk
Description
What Is It?
Turn and talk is an instructional routine in which students use content knowledge during a brief conversation with a peer.
Why Use It?
This strategy can be used for a variety of purposes depending on the prompt the teacher creates. Some examples may be:
Applying content to students’ lives, creating meaningful connections .
Practicing a discrete skill, such as explaining text evidence to support an argument.
Brainstorming to access background knowledge.
Answering a question related to key content.
Additionally, the turn-and-talk routine can be used across all content areas and at any grade level.
The routine is a form of collaborative learning that promotes the use of new content in conversation to improve expressive language skills (Beck, McKeown, & Kucan, 2013; Jones, Levin, Levin, & Beitzel, 2000). Improving students’ expressive language can also strengthen their linguistic comprehension, which is necessary to comprehend text (Tunmer & Chapman, 2012).
Instructional Steps:
Students are provided with a short prompt to discuss content or a skill.
Students turn to their predetermined partner and answer the prompt while their partner listens.
Then, the partners switch roles to allow the second student to address the prompt.
Note: Teaching students how to use any instructional routine requires teacher modeling and guided practice with feedback. Instruction should begin with modeling to show students what the turn-and-talk routine looks like and sounds like. Teachers should also establish clear expectations, such as:
"When you turn and talk to a partner, remember to…
Tell your partner your answer in one to two sentences.
Listen without interrupting while your partner tells you their answer.
Be kind and supportive so everyone feels comfortable sharing their answers."
After teacher modeling, students will be able to use the turn-and-talk routine with a small amount of teacher direction. Eventually, the teacher can simply prompt students to complete the turn-and-talk routine independently.
Quick Tips
Pairing Students: Teachers may pair students in various ways. The most important thing to consider is which students will be most successful at staying on task during the brief turn-and-talk exchanges. Some teachers may pair students based on geographical convenience (e.g., students turn and talk to their neighbor). Other teachers might pair students based on student behavior. If teachers already have pairs set up for other activities (e.g., collaborative learning pairs, partner reading), they can use these established pairs during the turn-and-talk routine.
The following are general guidelines for student pairing:
Seat students who are respectful to each other side by side.
Seat struggling learners next to students who are supportive.
Seat less proficient English language learners next to more proficient English language learners.
Resources
Did you know?
The turn-and-talk routine increases students’ opportunities to respond. In traditional classrooms, the teacher asks a question and one student answers. When teachers use the turn-and-talk routine instead, all students have an opportunity to answer questions or discuss key content. Research shows that having multiple opportunities to respond and actively engage in content learning improves student learning (MacSuga-Gage & Simonsen, 2015).
When combined with effective vocabulary and reading comprehension instruction, the turn- and-talk routine has been shown to improve vocabulary knowledge and content knowledge (e.g., Swanson et al., 2017; Vaughn et al., 2017; Vaughn et al., 2015; Vaughn et al., 2013; Wanzek, Swanson, Roberts, Vaughn, & Kent, 2015).
Teachers report that when they use the turn-and-talk routine, their students are more engaged. Structured partner work can also increase on-task behavior for students who struggle to sustain attention and focus in the classroom (e.g., Locke & Fuchs, 1995).
A variation of this strategy is Chum Check: Students turn to an elbow partner to check their understanding of the content.