Video Library

4th Grade Language Dive - Sessions 1, 2, and 3, plus interview - Asia Strayhorn - Acorn Woodland

Monique LaCour explains how she uses sentence frames to support academic conversation in her math classroom. She shares how these frames are especially helpful for English Language Learners.

Students in Monique LaCour's second grade class explore subtraction strategies through student-led number talks.  Class begins with a review of number talk roles and sentence frames. Then, students break off into small groups for the number talk, where they share and try new strategies to solve a subtraction problem. Class ends with student reflection on the process.

Sarah Horwitz explains how she uses a checklist to formatively assess listening and speaking skills during academic conversations. She uses the checklist to target specific goals, and says that her use of the checklist encourages the students to focus on those goals.

Students in Sarah Horwitz's fourth grade class participate in an evidence-based discussion about environmental issues. Drawing on recent field trip experiences as well as library research, students discuss what they believe to be the most pressing environmental issues. Ms. Horwitz uses participation chips, discussion roles, as well as exit tickets to support her students in the discussion.

Students in Brenda Tuohy's science class at TCN engage in a science talk after an investigation involving a chemical reaction. 

Middle School ELD teacher Tamica Groves encourages active participation by teaching her students to use talk moves. Talk moves include adding on to what others say, asking questions, and agreeing with what others say. Tamica describes how using talk moves to structure discussion can lead to more authentic conversations.

Sixth grade teacher Viet-ly Nguyen has students follow a participation protocol when engaging in academic discussions. This protocol encourages students to actively listen, add onto each others' ideas, and cite evidence for their thinking.

Middle School ELD teacher Tamica Groves supports her English Language Learners to have academic discussions about nonfiction texts. Class begins with a review of how students can participate in academic discussions. As small groups discuss a text, they use talk moves and a "talking rocks" strategy.

12th grade ELA teacher Johanna Paraiso describes how she uses video to help her students reflect and improve. Johanna begins by sharing how using video has helped her improve her practice. She then discusses how she started recording her classes and using the video with students. Johanna discovered that scripting the class's discussions had extra benefits for English Language Learners.

Students in Johanna Paraiso's high school English class engage in a moral reasoning conversation about themes in the book Brave New World. Ms. Paraiso uses technology throughout the class to scaffold the instruction, and she chooses controversial topics in order to engage the students. She is using this type of conversation as a step towards socratic seminars later in the year.

12th grade ELA teacher Johanna Paraiso has students adapts the Socratic Seminar format when having her students reflect on their senior research projects and presentations. Before this class, students participated in a culminating presentation. They begin class by reviewing everyone's feedback and discussing what they noticed. Finally students look at their own feedback and reflect on their learning.

Patricia Segura explains how she tracks student participation during her math class. She uses a participation quiz to note the ways in which students are participating, including their use of English. She sees this tool as especially useful for supporting newcomer students.

Johanna Paraiso explains how she uses technology to build students' communication skills. She shares how she uses google hangouts for small group instruction as well as for having her students communicate with other classrooms. She explains how video recordings of current and former students can boost student confidence. She shares how she continues to be creative with the use of technology.

Students in Patricia Segura's high school class use their home language of Spanish to work through collaborative math tasks. Since most of the students in the class are newcomers, students struggle with a math task that involves reading story cards in English. Ms. Segura scaffolds the instruction and supports students in their home language in order to help them persevere through the work.