3344: TALK

The definition of talk is the ability to communicate with others. This is very beneficial in a classroom because it gives the students a chance to share their personal experiences and opinions, maintain social relationships, convey information, and to control classmates' behavior.

There are several types of talking that can take place in a classroom. Some examples are small-group conversations. These take place with 3-5 students and are normally the most common. This type of talking allows the students to learn how to begin a conversation, take turns, keep the conversation moving forward, support comments and questions that classmates may have, and deal with conflicts. Grand conversations are more like group discussions. These can also be done in small groups, but are usually done in whole groups. These conversations have two parts. The first is open-ended, where the students talk about their reactions to the book, and their comments determine the direction of the conversation. The second part, the teacher turns the students' attention to one or two aspects of the book that they did not talk about during the first part. Usually after this the students are asked to write in reading logs, or just simply write again after the grand conversation.

Some examples of beneficial talk in a classroom would be like our home-group conversations about different topics. I feel like everytime we discuss something together, in both small groups and whole groups, we get better ideas. We get to hear others opinions and get better explanations of certain information when we all talk about it. We must remember as teachers we must; set a purpose, monitor, have rules, and either assign people roles or let them pick their roles. Student talk must be; meaningful, functional, and genuine in order for this to be beneficial in a classroom. Remember the main point for these conversations is for the students to interpret and gain knowledge from all this talk. Conversations must give the students a feeling of ownership, but at the same time help them comprehend and understand the subject being taught.