I recently worked with a Year 3 class to demonstrate some strategies for raising the quality of talk. The pupils were discussing the ‘odd one out’ from three objects. After a few minutes I placed some Talk Prompts in the middle of the circle. I didn’t say anything, but the children immediately started speaking in much more powerful, articulate sentences. For example, “I strongly believe the pencil is the odd one out because it is the only one made from a natural material.”
Such a simple technique - imagine how they will speak (and write!) in Year 6 if this school decides to implement Talk Prompts across the school.
You can download a copy of my Talk Prompts from Resources. I’d love to hear how you get on.
