Here are few tips to how you can better prepare yourself and our students
Think about your lesson plans and the flow of your day to make sure students are getting the opportunity to speak in an un-hurried manner. Really take the time to give students the time to discuss the concepts in front of them. They must have plenty of time to speak on an extended topic in the class if they are going to feel comfortable doing that during an assessment test.
Provide your students with a lot of structure so that:
- They know what an academic conversation sounds like
- They know about complexity
- They know the expectations
- They know about coherent messages
And they are able to see this type of language modeled by you and their peers.
Build in protocols and routines into your class so that your students will know what the conversation should sound like and how they can reach to prepare their own conversation skills.
Here are a couple resources to help you:
jeffzwiers.org — lots of helpful info, formative assessments, video trainings, etc. to help you add in more speaking discourse into your lesson plans.
