Domain

Reading, Writing & Discussion

Writing is thinking made visible; talk is thinking rehearsed. Every subject is a literacy subject the moment students must explain themselves.

The problems

“Written answers are two lines of mush”4 techniques
“They freeze at a blank page”5 techniques
“Whole-class reading is painful”2 techniques
“Their vocabulary caps their thinking”5 techniques
“Group discussion drifts off task in seconds”2 techniques

The techniques

Bounce the ReadingTeacher craftPass the reading around the room in short unpredictable turns, so everyone follows every line.Discussion Ground RulesPromising researchAgree a few talk rules, then practise them until students build on each other's ideas.Everybody WritesPromising researchSet silent writing before the discussion, so every student works out an answer first.One Great SentencePromising researchSwap the paragraph for one sentence written to a high standard, then improve it together.Say It Again, BetterPromising researchWhen the idea is right but the wording is loose, ask again in subject language.Sentence StemsPromising researchGive the opening words of an academic sentence, so students can borrow structure while they think.Silent Start WritingTeacher craftGive short, regular, unmarked writing bursts, so starting to write stops being the hard part.