Smooth

This year I did something different for "turn and talk" partner practice and I am loving it so far. When I assign my kiddos carpet spots for reading instruction, I always spread them out so they are not sitting directly next to someone if possible and that is particularly important for my friends who have a hard time not touching their carpet neighbors and who struggle to keep their hands to themselves. I always make sure that my friends who have a hard time paying attention sit up close to me so I can easily redirect them and I try not to put kiddos next to their friends on the carpet because I don't want them distracting each other. All of these decisions work for instruction time and story time, but then when I went to create partnerships for turn and talk, I realized that where I assigned kiddos on the carpet did not lend itself to good partnerships.

One of my team members mentioned that she had her students sit in rows so that turn and talk was really easy and that inspired me with an idea. I assigned my students "partner spots" in addition to "reading spots." Reading spots are where they sit during instruction and those are the spots where I have them spread out and placed strategically so they will listen well. Then, I created partnerships based on kids who will work well together (sometimes friends, sometimes students who both speak the same native language, sometimes students who are both at the same language level in their English acquisition) and taught the class how to calmly and quickly transition from reading spots to partner spots.

When they sit in partner spots, they sit directly next to their partners and I have four straight rows. We practiced scooting on our bottoms to face our partners and then scooting back to face me when they hear my bell. After each story, I have the class transition to their partner spots so I can ask comprehension questions about the text. I only give them a count of 10 to move and they are doing such a fabulous job it literally impresses me every time. I am hearing everyone talk and share ideas with their partners and I am hearing students offering correct answers based on the texts we've read. It's so exciting! I thought for sure having two different spots would be a challenge, but it's been great. They are attentive during stories and then have a chance to talk and share with someone who they work well with.

The first few weeks of school, before I introduced turn and talk, I felt like my students were not getting an opportunity to talk about the stories we read because I really try to continue reading without stopping for each and every story that students want to tell. I don't want to have the flow of instruction interrupted with comments about every aspect of the story, but I do want my students to be able to express their ideas and share their personal connections to our texts. Since introducing partner spots, I have felt that they have really been actively involved in our comprehension practice compared to years past.

It's so much fun to see kiddos actively engaged. My next step is to ask a colleague to come in and specifically watch a few kiddos to listen to their exact responses in order to check for accuracy and story comprehension. Sometimes things look like they are really working from afar, but then up close maybe students aren't actually on task, so I want to investigate further so I can make additional changes if necessary.