Think, Talk, Teach! & Quick Flash Product Giveaway!

I don’t know about you, but every year I have students in my classroom who are unable to formulate complete sentences when they speak and participate. Oral language skills are the key foundation for all the learning that takes place within our classroom walls.  As a teacher, it is *so* important that I intentionally include activities and moments throughout our day that allow my students to formulate thoughts and communicate those thoughts aloud to their peers.  
As busy teachers, I often feel that the speaking and listening standards are pushed to the back burner at times.  We are guilty of assuming our kids will “pick them up” along the way and that they naturally “teach themselves” within our daily routine.  For most kids…yes, this is true. But for many children, they need to be strategically taught HOW to communicate, share examples, and connect multiple ideas and subjects when they speak to others. 
This product does just that!

There are three “levels” to the discussion cards within this pack. Each card contains a conjunction on the bottom that students must use as they respond to the day’s daily question. For example, in level 1 students must connect TWO ideas.  
Ex:  “At recess, I love to swing AND go on the slide.”

In level 2, students must elaborate and explain WHY within their response. (Ex: I am kind to my friends because I help them clean up their toys at recess.)

In level 3, students work on using commas in a series and extending their responses to a discussion question by offering three specific examples, points, or ideas as they communicate. (Ex: After school, I do my homework, play outside, and eat dinner.”

The pack comes with multiple tools to increase speaking and listening skills with your students. Some of these include speaker/listener role cards for partners, anchor charts, enlarged pictures for creating anchor charts with your students, and more!
You can use the MANY, MANY daily discussion response question cards that are provided within the pack. But guess what?! This pack is also….
EDITABLE!!!
Yep, I said it! You can type up your own daily questions to coordinate with specific items you are learning and experiences unique to your setting, students, and school.  Cards also come in color versions and black & white versions for easy printing. 
Self assessment checklists for kids are included to help students track their progress with the speaking and listening skills. They can also set new goals and become aware of their strengths as a communicator and their needs. What a wonderful life skill to teach these kiddos!

If you are interested in this pack for your classroom, you can find it in my TpT store by clicking HERE.
This pack is one of my favorites so far! The topic of oral language is so dear to my heart and I just know you and your students will love learning more about each other and challenging your thinking as you dig into these daily discussions! 🙂
To celebrate this pack, I’m giving away TWO copies of Think, Talk, Teach to Sugar and Spice followers! This will be a FAST giveaway that will end in 24 hours! To be eligible, enter through the Rafflecopter below. 🙂 I will announce the winners on Monday during my Monday Made It post. Thank you and happy Saturday!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Similar Posts

54 Comments

  1. I have many students whose first language is not English, so this would be great for helping them construct sentences appropriately. I would love to win this resource, obviously…fingers crossed!

    tokyoshoes at hotmail dot com

  2. I love that student are practicing speaking and listening skills. It's so easy to be the speaker in my classroom and only half listen. This would be a perfect pack for next year!

  3. This looks amazing! I would use this with my students with special needs. The listening piece is so important for them! I also have many who struggle to answer whatever is in their head instead of thinking about their answer first. This will be perfect to help them!

    Jennifer Harrison
    jennifermharrison80@gmail.com

  4. Already on my wishlist! Our administrator has been talking a lot lately about how important student discussion is and I've been trying to pull that into my classroom more purposely as you said. I think these would naturally fit into the Morning Meeting routine or End of the Day/Snack time discussions. I also think it would be so easy to use these as an exit ticket at the end of lessons or incorporate them into guided reading. I love that there is even a editable version so we can grow & expand with the resource. Very cool. laura.scheunemann@wrps.net

  5. These are terrific! I teach at a Title one school and my student's language skills are poor! These would be great to use in small,and large group!

  6. I teach in a second grade bilingual classroom and these would be perfect for our oracy practice in English. I love this post because I am really trying to figure out ideas of how to up my students' English oracy authentically and it went along with a lot of my thoughts! Thanks!

    bobbistears@gmail.com
    Bobbi
    Bitty Bilinguals

  7. I will be teaching second grade. Approximately half my class is ESOL. I would use this resource during guided reading session or other small group session.

  8. I think these would be great to use after a big transition, like coming in from recess or after packing up at the end of the day.

  9. I can think of so many ways that I would use this wonderful creation! First and foremost, as part of my daily "Oral and Visual Communication" program!! Also, as part of "Community Circle" and class meetings!!! I would LOVE, LOVE, LOVE to be the VERY LUCKY recipient of this literacy gem <3 <3 <3. As always, thank you for considering me, Christina =). leafsgirl@rogers.com.

  10. I teach the kindergarten ELL class. I can see how this pack would help build their oral language skills. I would use it during morning meeting, transitions, and even as a brain break….

  11. I would use this pack for discussions after morning work, after breaks, and before leaving at the end of the day and any time I had some spare minutes in the day. I would love these.

  12. Sweet Christina! I am so excited to explore your new creation! This would be amazing for morning meeting or before a writing exercise! The self-assessment tools are really a HUGE plus! Well Done!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *