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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

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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

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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

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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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