- Episode Highlights
- Transcript
When we ask better questions, students want to share their thinking more often, which is great… until conversations become chaotic or one-sided. That’s where Talk Moves come in.
In this episode, we explore how Talk Moves can help create more respectful and productive math discussions in your classroom. You’ll learn how to use simple, intentional teacher prompts to guide students in explaining their thinking, responding to each other, and participating more thoughtfully.
We’ll break down a set of powerful strategies you can start using right away, along with tips for teaching them explicitly and building a classroom culture where all students feel heard. Whether your math talks need more structure or you just want to strengthen student discourse, this episode will give you the tools to build stronger, more confident conversations.
Hello again, Meaning-Makers! Last week we wrapped up a two-part series about asking good questions. When we start asking good questions, we will begin to notice an increase in our students’ enthusiasm about mathematics and a desire to share their ideas. Now, this is a wonderful thing, but it can simultaneously lead to some challenges. This is because engaging in productive and respectful discourse isn’t typically a natural ability for young children. It’s a skill that requires explicit teaching and a lot of practice. Otherwise, the math discussions that happen in our classroom will probably look more like everyone talking at once, or maybe a select few students dominating the conversation.
So today we’re going to explore a strategy that can be used to combat this. We’re going to talk about Talk Moves, a powerful tool to engage students in meaningful mathematical discussions.
What Are Talk Moves?
So, what exactly are “Talk Moves”? Talk Moves are specific question stems teachers can use to encourage students to articulate their thinking, listen to each other, and build on each other’s ideas during math discussions. These moves are not just about getting students to talk; they’re also about deepening their understanding and helping them become active participants in their learning process.
Today I’m going to break down six core talk moves that you can implement in your classroom. It’s important to mention that I am introducing these in no particular order. There is no sequential order to using Talk Moves, and they are all equally effective. I will explain the purpose of each Talk Move and show you how you can implement each one in your classroom.
Elaborating
The Purpose
The first talk move we’re going to unpack is elaborating. The purpose of the elaborating talk move is to encourage a student to expand on their ideas when initially, they aren’t really saying a whole lot. We may ask a student to elaborate when we are having difficulty understanding their reasoning because their answer is vague or confusing.
Examples
Questions such as, “Can you say more about that?”, “Tell us more about your thinking.” “Can you expand on that?” or “Can you give us an example?” are all great questions that can be asked to facilitate this talk move. Using the elaborating talk move sends the message to our students that we want to understand their thinking because their ideas are valuable. Another benefit of the elaborating talk move is it gives the student more time to process and clarify their thinking.
Revoicing
The Purpose
Next is revoicing. The purpose of the revoicing talk move is similar to the goal of elaborating, but we use this talk move when we think we understand the student’s reasoning and want to check with them to make sure our understanding is accurate.
Examples
In this case, we would voice our interpretation of the student’s reasoning in our own words, and then ask the student to verify whether our interpretation is correct. Some questions we might ask when we are revoicing are, “I think what you’re saying is…”, “I hear you saying…” or “Let me see if I understand…”
Repeating
The Purpose
Now let’s explore the third talk move, repeating. The main purpose of the repeating talk move is to ensure all students are accessing and engaging in the discussion. In some cases, we might ask a student to repeat verbatim what a student says.
Now, we might ask a student to do this for a couple reasons. Perhaps a student just made a point that is a key idea and critical to the class discussion. By having another student repeat what was said, it sends the message to all students that the thing that was just said is pertinent to the class discussion.
Another reason why we might ask a student to repeat verbatim what another student said is simply to make sure everyone in the class heard the idea! It’s uncomfortable for many students to speak with authority when sharing their ideas in class. If a student shares quietly, you might ask another student who heard it to repeat for the people farther away who may have not heard the idea.
On the other hand, we might also ask a student to repeat another student’s idea in their own words. The purpose for using the repeating talk move in this manner is to give your students the opportunity to hear the same reasoning in a different way.
I’m sure we’ve all experienced this scenario before; someone is explaining something to you, but the way they are explaining it feels really confusing. But then someone else explains the same concept in a slightly different way, and all of a sudden it clicks! Well, our students share this same experience. Hearing the same idea explained several different ways increases the chances that all students can make sense of the shared ideas. Not to mention, the student repeating in their own words is deepening their own understanding!
Examples
Here are some examples of how the repeating talk move can be facilitated: “Who heard what Sam just said and can repeat it for those of us who didn’t hear?” “Who understands what Sam is saying and can repeat it in their own words?” or, “Who can restate what Sam just said?”
Agreeing/Disagreeing
The Purpose
After everyone hears and understands a student’s reasoning about a mathematical claim, it’s time to use the agree/disagree talk move to get everyone to engage with the claim. I see the agree/disagree move used a lot in classrooms, but often when it’s used, it’s implemented only partially.
Examples
Oftentimes teachers will ask for a “thumbs up if you agree” or a “thumbs down if you disagree”. While this can provide for us some useful formative assessment data, it’s not that helpful in getting students to deeply engage with each other’s reasoning. So it’s crucial that we follow up with the question, “Why do you agree?” or “Why do you disagree?” Otherwise our students most likely aren’t giving a lot of thought to their position in the matter.
Another way to facilitate this talk move is to ask, “Who has a similar or different idea?” or “Does that make sense to you? or “Why does/“Why doesn’t it make sense?”
Adding On
The Purpose
Another talk move that helps students engage with one another’s ideas is “adding on”. After a student explains their reasoning, a teacher may ask if another student wants to add on to the idea that was just shared. This presents an opportunity to help students engage with each other’s ideas and also sustain a productive conversation about the math. In addition to, “who can add on?” we may also ask, “Who would like to respond to that?”
Wait Time
The Purpose
The final talk move I want to share with you today is wait time. And ironically enough, this talk move involves no talking at all! There are a couple of reasons why we want to implement wait time.
First, it allows our students enough time to think about all that has been brought up in the discussion thus far. Allowing for wait time gives students time to process what has been said or asked without feeling the rush to “get it right, fast.” It also helps prevent the same two or three students (you know who they are!) from answering ALL the questions.
Mary Budd Rowe, who first coined the idea of wait time in 1974, recommends we wait at least four to five seconds after we’ve asked a question to call on a student for an answer. However, in my experience, wait time often exceeds four to five seconds. Allowing for wait time means providing enough time, however long that may be, to give more than just a few students time to feel comfortable sharing their thoughts.
Sounds simple enough, right? Well, wait time is actually quite difficult to implement, especially in the beginning. When you use wait time for the first time, expect your students to begin glancing around the room uncomfortably; anticipate a few giggles too. But, just watch… I promise you’ll start to see those hands slowly starting to rise. Kids pick up on nonverbal cues pretty quickly, and it won’t take them long to realize you’re expecting more than just a few hands, and you are committed to “waiting it out” until there are enough volunteers ready to share their thinking.
Wrapping It Up: Laying the Groundwork for Successful Talk Moves
It’s important to understand that we cannot expect for Talk Moves to work seamlessly right away. While it is possible if you started using some of these talk moves in your classroom tomorrow that you’d see an improvement in student thinking and discourse, it does take work up front for math discussions to be respectful and courteous.
Talk moves can only be successful if we have established a classroom culture in which students listen to one another with respect. They must feel like the classroom is a safe place to express their thoughts without being ridiculed. As the classroom teacher, it is crucial that before introducing talk moves, we establish ground rules that center around mutual respect. Demeaning comments or noises cannot be tolerated, and our students need to be reminded of these expectations daily until it becomes a routine part of our classroom culture.
It’s also important to note that the talk moves we discussed today work best when taught explicitly, area modeled, and practiced… a lot. I have also found it helpful to display Talk Moves posters in the classroom. You may consider designating and creating a poster for each talk move, which includes grade appropriate sentence starters. This gives students a visual they can refer to once they begin using talk moves with each other during small group discussions.
Final Thoughts
Talk Moves are a simple yet powerful way to deepen your students’ mathematical understanding and foster a collaborative learning environment. By encouraging students to articulate their thinking, listen to others, and build on ideas, we’re helping them develop critical thinking skills that go far beyond math class.
Thank you for joining me today, Meaning-Makers. I hope you feel inspired to incorporate Talk Moves into your classroom discussions.
That’s all for today. Until next time… have a great one!
