Something to think about:

When did you last use talk to start a lesson?

What ideas/techniques/activities have you used? (Please note some

of these down.)

• Share your ideas with someone.

• Join up with another pair and compare ideas.

• Advantages for starting lessons with talk:– allows for a settling time when class are arriving

(can accommodate late-comers);– doesn’t require very many resources;– allows for rehearsal, before things are committed to

paper;– encourages those who are quieter to begin to take

part;– it can help provide a timely recap and shape the

rest of the lesson;– it forces independence and focus;– helps to prevent the beginning of the lesson being

‘dead time’; – begins to tap into higher order thinking very early

on in the lesson.

Active ListeningDescription:Students should be taught and encouraged to listen carefully and effectively.

• Look at the person speaking• Give them your full attention• Do not interrupt • Nod (or smile) to show you understand• Ask questions (when it is OK to do so) if you do not understand. This will show you have been thinking about what you hear.

Outcomes:By encouraging students to assume the traits of good listeners, we can help them develop essential skills.

Individual Thinking TimeDescription:Students are allowed to think through an issue in silence and without interruption.

Outcomes:BY providing students with thinking time, they are encouraged to explore issues in more depth than might be usual.

This can be the first part of think-pair-share.

Think-pair-shareDescription:Students are provided with the opportunity to think about an issue without information.

Students should share their idea with their “talk partner”.

Ideas are shared with the whole class.

Outcomes:By providing students with thinking time, they are encouraged to explore issues in more depth than might be usual.

All students are provided with opportunity to share their ideas.

Talk PartnersDescription:Within the class, each student has a partner with whom they feel comfortable and with whom they share ideas, opinions and planning.

Outcomes:Some students find it a daunting prospect to speak in front of a whole class, even to answer brief questions.  Working regularly with a set partner helps students grow in confidence at expressing themselves.  This can lead on to “snowballing” – which encourages students to explain their ideas to a larger group – or to “think-pair-share” – which encourages students to explain their ideas to the whole class. This should become less daunting because students have had the opportunity to think about their answers and to rehearse them.

Thought ShowersDescription:A quick collection of ideas from all members of the group. With the minimum amount of structure, students are invited to call out words or ideas relating to the topic.  All suggestions are recorded, preferably on a board or flipchart, without any initial judgment. Subsequently, ideas can be grouped, ordered or evaluated -  without attributing them to any specific individual.

Outcomes:This is a good way to generate a wide range of responses and to encourage creative thinking.  All too often, anticipating that their suggestion might be ridiculed, students curtail their responses.  The relative anonymity of this approach encourages all students to contribute. It is also a useful first stage when seeking to construct a concept map (or mindmap).

Listening TriangleDescription:Students work together in groups of three.•The SPEAKER explains the topic (or expresses their opinion on an issue) as directed by the teacher. •The QUESTIONER listens carefully and asks for clarification or further detail. •The NOTE-TAKER observes this process and provides feedback to both "speaker" and "questioner". •A "numbered heads" approach can be used to allocate roles - and these roles can be rotated (either now or subsequently). 

Outcomes:This activity helps to develop speaking and listening skills and raises students' awareness of what constitutes both a clear explanation and active listening.

Information GapDescription:Students work in pairs. Each student is provided with half of the information required to complete a task or to achieve a learning objective. Having been provided with opportunity to study their "half", students meet together to share what they have learned. This can also work in triads (or even groups of four).

Outcomes:Research shows that students are better able to learn, understand and recall information if they have discussed it or taught it to others.  This activity provides opportunity to do precisely that.

Yes and No QuestionsDescription:There are various ways of employing this strategy. •Working in small groups, each student composes a question relating to the topic, bearing in mind that their fellow group members can only answer "yes" or "no". •Working in pairs, students compose questions (relating to a specified topic) to pose to the rest of the class. •Working in small groups, students compose questions to be posed to the teacher.

Outcomes:This activity provides students with the opportunity to practice asking questions.  It also encourages them to clarify their thinking and to refine their vocabulary and language skills.

EnvoyingDescription:Having discussed their own ideas or completed their own piece of research, each group sends an "envoy" to share their ideas or information with another group. The envoy may be •chosen by the group•pre-selected and notified by the teacher •selected by the teacher but only notified immediately before being sent. To ensure fairness, the teacher may choose to use a "numbered heads" approach for selecting the envoy.

Outcomes:Before sending their envoy, each group must ensure that s/he is well prepared.  NB: It is the responsibility of the group to prepare the envoy.  If the group is not aware who the envoy will be, the onus is on them to ensure that every member fully understands what is to be shared.

SnowballingDescription:Students talk in pairs, either to develop initial ideas or to share what they already know about a topic. These pairs double up and pool their ideas in the new group of four. Fours double up to eights and pool ideas.  Etc.

Outcomes:This is a useful activity for finding out what students already know about a topic, acting as a means of revising that knowledge.

Scan & CheckDescription:Each student has an information sheet which they scan quickly. Students then pair up and share what they have each learned. Findings are then reported back to the whole class.

Outcomes:This activity helps to develop students' reading skills, encouraging them to read in a purposeful way. Recounting what they have just read helps to reinforce that information. Working in pairs means that each student is prompted by their partner as they seek to recall what they have read.

JigsawingDescription:Students start off in “home groups”. Using a “numbered heads” approach, each student in the home group is given an aspect of a topic to research. Students (from each of the home groups) working on the same aspect come together to research their common question.  They become the “expert group” for that particular aspect of the topic. Students now return to their home groups to share their findings and to complete the jigsaw. 

Outcomes:This activity encourages collaborative learning and stresses the importance of working together.  The home groups depend for their success on each member bringing back as much as they can from the expert groups.

Mini-presentationDescription:Groups work together to collect and present information. This activity could follow on from a “jigsawing” activity.  Alternatively, the group may decide which task or topic to allocate to each member. The group must also decide how best to present their information.  The teacher may wish to stipulate that every member of the group plays some part in the presentation (even if it is only pointing to the parts of a diagram or holding up relevant artifacts).

Outcomes:This activity helps to develop speaking and presentation skills.  It also helps to develop students' organisation skills.  By valuing each student's work and contribution, it can help to build self-esteem.

Role PlayDescription:Working together in small groups, each student within the group is allocated a role (relating to the particular issue under discussion).  As discussion progresses, each student represents the point of view of the role they represent. This can also be conducted as a whole class activity with roles being allocated to groups of students, who are allowed to prepare their case beforehand.

Outcomes:This activity encourages students to express empathy with different points of view and can act as a preparation for making an argument or developing a piece of persuasive writing. The activity can also be used when planning for story-writing.

Hot SeatDescription:After suitable preparation (which may entail individual research or small group coaching), one student volunteers or is selected to take the hot seat, either as a “character” or as an “expert”.  The rest of the class poses questions to the hot seat. This can also be conducted as an activity within a number of small groups, perhaps allocating each student within the group a different character (from a story or play).

Outcomes:Although there is only one student in the hot seat, the whole class is engaged in the learning (consolidation) process as they devise suitable questions to pose. This is a useful strategy for encouraging students to consider the emotions and feelings of a character in a story, play or historical event.

Rainbow GroupsDescription: Students start in "home groups". Groups discuss a topic. Students are numbered (or allocated colours) and re-group by number (or colour).  These new groups should have a representative from every group, if possible. All students take a turn at reporting back what their group discussed and any decisions they may have arrived at.

Outcomes:This activity is beneficial because it encourages every child to listen (to their home group) and to talk (to their number/colour group).