During this Active Involvement portion of the mini-lesson, I give my students an opportunity to turn and talk with a partner about why they think the brief they chose was important to them.
The children have had a lot of practice with the turn and talk activity. They do not have an assigned partner to talk with each time. Instead, they just turn to the nearest neighbor on the floor. With an odd number of students in the class this year, we always have a group of three.
See also:
Celia's conference (video).
Abigail's conference (video).
Abigail's peer share with Shreeya (video).
I have many English language learners in my classroom. I have found when I give them an opportunity to first talk through what they will write, I have fewer blank stares when I dismiss them to actually go do their writing.
The turn-and-talk activity also gives me one more opportunity to check in with kids to see whether or not they understand what they are to do. On a good day, I will only be able to confer with about 4-5 kids during the actual writing time. But when I check in during the turn-and-talk activity, I can touch base with another 3-4 kids and see where they are with their thinking.
| TEACHER: |
Now I would like to give you the opportunity to turn to a partner here on the carpet and talk about why the event you selected was important.
[cross talking] |