Supporting math talk in the classroom - how can we reinforce and move the talk along?

The authors of Classroom Discussions write about 5 main ways to move the talk along.

1. Revoicing. "So you're saying that it's an odd number..." [This supports students who are not explaining their thinking/ideas in a clear way.]
2. Repeating: Asking students to restate someone else's reasoning. "Can you repeat what he said in your own words?" [Students who repeat ideas will have a better chance of following the conversation. This makes everyone more accountable for the talk time.]
3. Reasoning: Ask students to apply their own reasoning by agreeing or disagreeing. [This builds accountability AND critical thinking, especially when students need to say WHY they agree or disagree.]
4. Adding on: "Would someone like to add something more to this?"
5. Waiting and using wait time. "Take your time... we'll wait..."

 Talk Formats:

a) Whole class discussion
b) Small group discussion
c) Partner talk *

Interesting points:

Often, the teacher refrains from providing the correct answer and instead leads the students towards it with prompts, questioning, rephrasing, and repetition.


* This reminds of me a very interesting teacher that I met during a Ministry of Education conference. She used partners to further talk in her Grade 2 class. She mixed partners up every other week, and students used their "talk buddies" for every kind of Think/Pair/Share for two weeks. She said that it built inclusion and students' willingness to work with everyone. I think that would fit well into this kind of Math program.