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

Strategy · All strategies
Evidence · no claims cited

Description¶

The primer recommends giving students time to think and write responses before discussing, using a template or prompt sheet to scaffold thinking. A set of goals and prompts could be posted on the wall and made available on paper or online. Making talk moves visually and publicly accessible helps students develop stronger responses and "lower their cognitive load in these often challenging environments of dialogue with their peers."

Design Implications¶

Context¶

Requirements¶

• Students benefit from time to think and write down responses before discussing in pairs or small or large groups

Constraints¶

Target Learners¶

• K-12 STEM students

Target Learning Goals¶

• more meaningful discussion and deeper reasoning

Related Strategies¶

• Complete Scripts of Academic Routines
• Use Templates and Tools That Allow for Scaffolding
• Sentence Frames And Starters
• Sentence Frames
• Scaffolding Structure and Function in PBL

Examples¶

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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