This was a presentation on math talk. I had previous training on this, but found it useful enough that I wanted a chance to revisit the concepts and deepen my understanding.

A decent powerpoint overview of the basic concepts can be found here.

There are 5 basic "talk moves" that work together to allow students, as a whole class, to discuss a new concept. They are:

• Revoicing - Teacher clarifies students' thinking

  Teacher repeats what the student has said (without adding or modifying any information) and asks the student to respond whether or not the revoicing is correct.

  Revoicing can make one student's idea available to others, allow other students to hear it one more time, or focus on a change that has occured during a discussion.

  This is not for correcting a student's thinking, merely for clarifying it.

• Restating - Students repeat or rephrase what another student said

  The teacher asks another student to repeat what another student has said, possibly in their own words, and then returns to the first student.

  Restating allows students to hear another rendition of the first student's contribution and adds to the likelihood that they will follow the conversation and understand the point.

• Agree or Disagree and WHY? - Ask students to apply their own reasoning to someone else's reasoning.

  After a student has made a contribution, the teacher makes sure the students have time to process it (see Wait Time) and then elicit student reasoning about the contribution.

  The teacher refrains from supporting one or another position , but supports respectful discussion of ideas. Once the discussion has taken place, the teacher leads the discussion towards a correct understanding of the topic at hand.

  Use this regularly, even if the ideas presented are correct. Otherwise it may turn into a sure indicator that an idea is wrong, precluding students from actually thinking about the issue.

• Further Participation - Ask for further comments

  This move is used during discussion when two or more points of view are given. The teacher first revoices the points of view for clarification, and then asks if someone would like to add on.

  This allows additional points of view to be presented, or for additional information to be given about one of the existing views.

• Wait Time - Allows students to think

  The teacher allows all students to think about the question, allowing students time to formulate their thoughts and how they wish to express it. Wait time should be given not only after presenting the question, but also after calling on the student.