Teaching ideas just go round and round and round again, don’t they? Just wait a bit and that idea or strategy will return! You can pretty much count on it. Sometimes we roll our eyes and say “Here we go again!” Sometimes, we are excited to see something come back on the radar. That’s the case for me with the CCSS Speaking and Listening standards, because who doesn’t like to talk? It’s so important in today’s world to collaborate and communicate well and we certainly know the kiddos L.O.V.E. to talk, right? So let’s use their enthusiasm for some great learning about how to collaborate and communicate well!
When I was teaching in the classroom, I used The Conversation Club to help the kiddos become excellent communicators and collaborators…and bonus points that it helps to develop vocabulary too! Now that I am teaching reading intervention groups all day, it works great for my readers in groups, as well. With as little as a few minutes each week, your students can learn all about the fine points of communicating well! So wouldn’t it be great if all the things you need were organized into one easy to use packet?? Well tada! They are!!
Here’s our Back To School Conversation Club! We say…..get ’em talking right from the get go!
In it you will find all the resources you need to teach your students collaboration and communication skills. Included in the packet are colored and black and white copies for all resources, too. Yay!
The resources include:
*Conversation Rules and Norms mini-posters. Our school is all about “norms” but choose which you like better. There are blank templates too, if you prefer to generate your own rules or norms with your sweeties.
*10 “get ’em talking” questions which are on mini-posters AND small group cards.
*Student “job” cards which are also used for forming groups.
*Conversation Starters – to teach and prompt students to use collaborative language. These are on mini-posters AND individual student bookmarks.
*Student Awards for being great communicators!
So how did I use it in my classroom and how do I use it with my intervention groups now? In the classroom, we talked about one “get ’em talking” question every week, usually on Friday. It only takes about 15 minutes, so we often squeezed in another question when one of those surprise pockets of time showed up….you know…..”surprise…the assembly will start 15 minutes later than planned” or “surprise…your guest reader just canceled for today.” In my intervention groups, we talk about one question every other week. Most of our talk in groups comes from the “Amazing Readers” Conversation Club. (Coming soon……wink, wink!) And that’s it really. Your students will be great speakers and listeners in no time! It’s sooooo easy, motivating and FUN! My kiddos were always begging to do it, and I’ll bet yours will too! So go ahead and let them talk!
