Caramel:
?Talk is an important means by which we communicate and build social relationships, and it plays a crucial role in learning? (Primary National Strategy)
In any lesson it is important that all children are fully involved in the learning activities if they are to make the best progress. Teachers usually have a question and response session as part of a lesson; whilst this provides the opportunity for individual children to respond to the teacher, the use of ?talk partners? as a strategy means that all children get the opportunity to think, discuss and express themselves orally.
Some children may feel more confident when expressing their ideas in a paired situation, rather than to the whole class, when the fear of getting a question wrong may actually restrict their learning; the shared responsibility for an opinion or view which comes with this strategy can raise children?s self-confidence and encourage their engagement. It also gives the teacher more opportunities to ask higher order questions which require more thought, reflection and exploration, and it gives children time to think. There is significant research to show that children?s learning is restricted by low level questioning and lack of time to respond; the use of talk partners can really take children?s learning on further, and what?s more, it?s fun.
All research shows that when speaking and listening is well developed and encouraged it has a positive impact on children?s learning. So what is "Talk Partners"?
One simple strategy that many teachers already use is ?think, pair, and share?. Here children are provided with the task and with time to think before they discuss it with a partner followed by a paired discussion; the results of the discussion are then shared with a wider audience, such as the whole class. Teachers may have used this type of approach without the tag of ?Talk Partners?. The following brief guidance aims to indicate how this could be used on a more regular, planned basis, and builds on research about what really works"
"Some of the positive outcomes of using the talk partner?s approach are that it:
? provides an opportunity for all children to speak and listen to each other;
? helps children to generate ideas, views and opinions safely;
? provides the opportunity for all children to voice their understanding of ideas, concepts, vocabulary and linguistic conventions;
? enables participation by children who might not be as confident in the whole class situation;
? helps in the rehearsal of words and phrases before committing them to paper or contributing to a larger audience;
? develops thinking, speaking, listening, collaborative and cooperative skills;
? ensures all children are involved in the lesson;
? encourages the involvement of boys;
? enables children to learn from each other;
? provides thinking time;
? encourages extended responses;
? develops coherent thinking;
? develops ?process talk? (thinking through talk)"
From TalkPartners Booklet lancsgfl