Nine talk moves addressing four goals for productive discussion¶

Element · All elements
Evidence · 2 claims (2 for) · 2 studies (2 review), q1 · 0 of 2 report an effect size · 2 claims rest on one study

Description¶

The primer describes talk moves as specific, adaptable prompts and actions such as wait time and hand signaling that teachers use to guide discussion flow, encourage participation, and promote deeper reasoning. It reports that Michaels and O'Connor (2015) identify nine talk moves addressing four key goals: clarify and share thinking, listen carefully to each other, deepen reasoning, and think with others. Example moves include "time to think," "say more," "who can rephrase or repeat?", and "add on."

Design Implications¶

Context¶

Requirements¶

• Teachers should introduce talk moves slowly, one at a time, so students see the different ways the same move can be used or interpreted

Constraints¶

• The primer attributes the nine talk moves to Michaels and O'Connor (2015) rather than testing them itself

Target Learners¶

• K-12 STEM students

Target Learning Goals¶

• elaboration and clarification of ideas, active listening, deeper reasoning, critical thinking

Claims¶

• Shifting away from traditional IRE recitation toward student participation in discussion improves student learning [+W]
• Productive discourse practices correlate with improved performance on standardized tests of reasoning [+W]

Related Elements¶

• Eliciting Student Thinking

Examples¶

• Provide templates and publicly posted talk moves to scaffold discussion and lower cognitive load

Key Sources¶

• Schank, P., Jenks, L., Barth, C., Crawford, C., Powers, K., & Fusco, J. (2025, May). Classroom Discourse. Digital Promise. https://doi.org/10.51388/20.500.12265/250