Post on 04-May-2018
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Facilitating Rich Conversations Facilitating Rich Conversations to Promote Language and to Promote Language and Higher Order Thinking Higher Order Thinking
Lisa Van ThielLisa Van Thieland
Mary Lu Love
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GoalsGoals
In this module participants will: Identify how conversations support
children in constructing knowledge; Understand and apply practices for pp y p
initiating and extending conversations throughout the day;
And document children’s speech and reflections to facilitate conversations.
EEC Core CompetenciesEEC Core Competencies Competency Area 1: Child Development Competency Area 2: Guiding and
Interacting with Children and Youth Competency Area 5: Learning
Environments and Implementing Curriculum
Competency Area 6: Observation, Assessment, and Documentation
Competency Area 8: Professionalism and Leadership
What Research Tell Us:What Research Tell Us:
Teacher talk: teachers initiate, students respond, teacher comments.
Quality feedback helps children develop rich vocabularies and complex sentence rich vocabularies and complex sentence structures.
High poverty preschool setting often create few conversation opportunities.
Research Research
Typical preschool conversation are teacher direction and one word responses to children.
Too much challenge isn’t engaging and impacts brain functioning.
Conversations Conversations to Literacyto Literacy
Conversations Short turns Check understanding Shared experiences
& k l d
Reading No turns! You monitor alone Cannot assume
& knowledge In the same location: ◦ Gesture◦ Eye gaze
Intonation signals how you feel, marks importance
shared knowledge Not shared location No “voice” to signal
feeling or importance Rely on words, syntax
(grammar), world knowledge
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ConversationsConversations
Through conversations understanding is actively constructed:• Talk organizes thinking• Language reveals prior knowledge. g g p g• Conversations provide a context for social
learning.
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Talking organizes thinkingTalking organizes thinking
“Our internal talk is our thinking in action. It is where our thinking takes place. Our thinking is dependent on our inner language, our ability to speak to ourselves – and because f of this, our thinking and our continued
development as cognitive beings also is dependent upon external conversations. It is trough conversations with others that we learn how to use language to begin with.” Lisa Burman 2009
Halliday’sHalliday’s FunctionsFunctions◦ Instrumental◦ Personal
◦ Interactional
◦ Regulatory
◦ Representational◦ Representational
◦ Heuristic
◦ Imaginative
M.A. Halliday (1999)
Image by First Lutheran Church
Language reveals prior knowledgeLanguage reveals prior knowledge
Children learn from physical and social experiences with people and objects.
Through the social context children learn to become thinkers and problem solvers.
Image by Alihodza
Social Context of LearningSocial Context of Learning “Without children talking about their
experiences and their thinking, this active connection-making is left to chance. Conversation is social by its nature, and provides young learners with the place, provides young learners with the place, time and challenge to share their experiences, thinking, and questions.”Lisa Burman 2009 Image by D G Butcher
Home School Study of Language Home School Study of Language and Literacy Developmentand Literacy Development Exposure to varied vocabulary, Children’s conversations include past,
present, and future as well as imaginative events,eve ts,
Book reading, rich curriculum, and writing support learning.
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Multiple turn-taking by all parties;
Mutual interest and investment in the topic and conversation;L
Elements of Effective ConversationsElements of Effective Conversations
Listening; Building upon answers from
others; Striving for understanding
(includes questioning and reflection).
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Conversations Conversations 1. Children’s voices are most often heard2. Teacher talk is used to discover children’s ideas3. Children talk with each other4. Children have time to think5. Topics connect children’s interest, exploration, and
questionsquestions.6. Conversations are documented and interpreted to
reveal thinking.7. Conversation are use to stretch children’s thinking.
(Lisa Burman 2009 p.37)Image by The Reflections on Learning
Feedback LoopsFeedback LoopsQuestioning: Why do you think so What else can you tell usClarifying You think the insect is hiding, his body blends into g y
the back ground so well he is camouflaged.Summarizing Now that we have look at many insect and
spiders, we know that insect have six legs and spiders have 8
Predicting: What do you think insect eat?
Conversational skillsConversational skills
Send clear message Clear up misunderstandings Begin and end conversations
appropriatelyappropriately Keep the conversation going for longer
period of time Contribute to the conversation by adding
information that is on topic or related
Talk to discover children ideasTalk to discover children ideas ClosedTeacher: What is a
house made of?Child: BrickTeacher: What color
OpenTeacher: What happens when a
house is built?Child: They dig a foundation, draw
plans, and put up a house.Teacher: Who is involved in
building the house?Child: workers
Teacher: What color are bricks?
Child: Red Teacher: Yes but they
can also be yellow
Teacher: Tell me about the workers?
Child: Lots of workers carpenters, plumbers, and electricians.
Child 2: my dad is a plumber. He fixes peoples toilets.
Teacher: A plumber is someone that fixes pipes to control the flow of water into and out of your home.
Children Talk with Each OtherChildren Talk with Each Other
Explore new idea Hear different perspectives Make connections Opportunities for cooperative learning Opportunities for cooperative learning Peer tutoring
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Wait Time is Time to ThinkWait Time is Time to Think Increase in number of correct responses "I don't know" and “no” answers responses decreased Volunteers increased Academic achievement increased When teachers wait patiently in silence for 3 or more
d l h h seconds at appropriate places, positive changes in their own teacher behaviors also occur:◦ More varied and flexible questioning strategies used◦ Decrease in the quantity of teach talk◦ Increase the quality of questions and responses◦ Increase in complexity of information processing◦ Increase in higher level thinking used by children
Stahl 1994
Connecting through conversationsConnecting through conversations
Initial conversations with children and families
Meal and Snack time Regular one on one conversation during Regular one on one conversation during
center time Conversation Stations Book reading
Image by Dagmar*s momsense
Documented and interpreted Documented and interpreted conversationsconversations Record Video Transcribe Draw Draw Document learning
Image by Effie B's Early Childhood Development Center
Strategies for extending Strategies for extending conversationconversation
Blog http://earlyliteracyconnection.blogspot.com/2010_07_01_archive.html
Image by raising children network
QuestionsQuestions
Who What Where When When Why How
Environmental InfluencesEnvironmental Influences
◦Physical◦Temporal◦Climate
Image by KEPS
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Whole Group ConversationsWhole Group Conversations
Benefits children by: Stretching schema’s as they
listen to peers experiences Draw children into the
Image by THE GOOD KHARMA FAMILY PAGE
Draw children into the conversation by listening to the ideas of others
Talk organizes the learner and his role in the environment
Image by institute for integrated rural development
Reflective Conversations for the Reflective Conversations for the Whole GroupWhole Group1.How did the day go? 2.What problems did you solve? 3.What did you learn or think about today? 4.What might you be interested in g y
continuing to explore in the classroom tomorrow?
5.Summarize learning Image by Peter Parata
Small Group ConversationsSmall Group Conversations
Greater participation among children Easier to facilitate More opportunities to delve deeper into
children’s ideaschildren s ideas A safe environment for participating in a
group discussion. Image by Guided Math
Center timeCenter time
Follow child lead Extend the conversation Extend the play Move the conversation from the hear and
Image by Haliyma Barrow
Move the conversation from the hear and now to past or future.
Image by mehan
Image by College of Education
Language Stimulation TechniquesLanguage Stimulation Techniques
Waiting
Pausing
C fi i
Slowing pace during conversation
Encourage children to take turn
Responds to all
Technique Description
Confirming
Imitating and extending
espo s to a utterances by confirming attempts or understanding
Respond by repeating what the child says and extending or asking a question
More Language TechniquesMore Language Techniques
Extending
Labeling
Repeats what child says and adds small amount of information
Providing words for actions, objects or
Technique Description
Open ended questions
Scripting
abstractions Questions that that
require multiple word answers
Providing a language model, best for routine activities
Justice, (2004)
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“Vocabulary, language skills, and knowledge about the world are acquired during interesting conversations with responsive adults. Talking about books, about daily happenings, or even about what happened in day care or at work, not only contributes to children’s vocabularies but also increases their ability to
Conversations with ChildrenConversations with Children
vocabularies, but also increases their ability to understand stories and explanations and increases their understanding of how things work – all skills that will be important in early reading.”
Burns, M.S., Griffin, P. & Snow, C.E. (1999)
Higher Order ThinkingHigher Order Thinking
Evaluation
Synthesis
A l i
Bloom’s taxonomy, 1956
Analysis
Application
Comprehension
Knowledge
Higher Order ThinkingHigher Order ThinkingHigher order thinking takes thinking to higher levels than restating facts and requires students to DOsomething with the facts:• understand them• infer from them• connect them other facts and concepts• categorize them• manipulate them• put them together in new or novel ways and• apply them to seek new solutions to new problems.
Adapted from Reading Rockets, Thomas & Thorne, 2009
Higher Order ThinkingHigher Order Thinking
Memorizing facts
Repeating something
Understanding facts Inferring from prior
k l d
IsIs not
exactly as it was told to you.
knowledge Making connections to other
facts and concepts Categorizing Manipulating Putting ideas together in new
ways Applying prior knowledge to
new situations
Explicitly teach the BIG IDEA Guide students in naming key concepts Tell and show
Strategies for Enhancing Strategies for Enhancing Higher Order ThinkingHigher Order Thinking
Move from concrete to abstract and back Expand discussions at home Connect concepts Teach inference
Reflect on your own conversations?Reflect on your own conversations?
Are children’s voices heard more than adults? Does you engage in a dialogue with children or a one
sided monologue? Do children talk with each other in the classroom,
h l ll whole group, or small groups. Do you give children time think? Is time allotted in during the day to engage in
conversation with children around topics connect to their interest, exploration, and questions
Do you document conversations? Are conversations used to stretch children’s
thinking?
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Apply and ReflectApply and Reflect
Record one conversation with children in which you intentionally teach children a concept.
Select an the appropriate instructional Se ect a t e app op ate st uct o a format
Discuss how you will scaffold learning. List questions you will ask to engage children in meaningful conversation
Record a conversation with childrenRecord a conversation with children
Play the tape back and ask yourself the following questions: ◦ Who is doing the talking? ◦ What do you talk about with children?y◦ What is the purpose of talk?◦ Are children sharing their experiences
with others?◦ Are children expressing their
learning or thinking?
Moving ForwardMoving Forward
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