Quality Talk  when the first group completed the discussion, the

teacher sat with the next group, rotating until all students
Primary Goal participated
 To enhance students’ high-level comprehension about, around, and
with the text and content.  Secondary level
 Less necessity for the teacher to facilitate every
Core Components discussion
 The Ideal Instructional Frame  Conditions:
 Discourse Elements 1. The teacher remain in one group
 Teacher Modelling and Scaffolding 2. The teacher alternate which group to facilitate
 Pedagogical Principles 3. There should be group leaders with a teacher-facilitator
role
1. The Ideal Instructional Frame
b. Key aspects
A. Before Discussion  Students control the turn pattern of discussion
 Students take on the interpretation of the text
a. Choose the text  Open-participation pattern
 From extant curriculum  Students use the discussion to talk about the ideas and
 From texts that students have read themes in the text or establish the variability of the
 Mixed-genres claims

b. Prepare pre-discussion questions or ideas through C. After Discussion

 Literacy Journals for QTLA
 Catalyst Worksheet for QTS a. Incorporate discussion debriefing
 how the process components of the discussion unfolded
c. Ideal composition or not
 Small groups about 6  the extent to which the students adhered to the
 Varied ability levels discussion rules

B. During Discussion b. Post-discussion activity

 Students write individual responses to authentic
a. The teacher facilitates student talk questions about the text
 Primary level
 it is necessary that the teacher is present in every group
discussion
 teachers facilitated one small group, while the rest 2. Discourse Elements
completed an assignment or read silently
A. Questions
 3. Marking
a. Test questions – basic comprehension and low level declarative 4. Prompting
understanding 5. Challenging

b. Authentic questions – associated with high-level 4. Pedagogical Principles

comprehension
A. Language is a tool for thinking and inter-thinking
1. Uptake Questions (UTs)  Teachers understand and value the talk that the students
 Built on a previous response or question are engaging in.
 Spontaneous  Teachers embrace the actual process of talking as a way
2. High-level Thinking Questions (HLTs) of thinking
 Stimulate generalization, analysis or speculation B. Normative discourse expectations and dialogic
3. Connection questions responsiveness
 Stimulate the generation of connections to past  Manifest for the students in the form of ground rules
experiences or text C. Balance responsiveness and structure
 Students talk necessarily deviate from being exclusive
B. Responses about the text
 But it should not be veered too far astray from the text or
a. Elaborated Explanations the topic
 Students provide multiple forms of support D. Content Clarity
b. Exploratory Talk  Teachers have strong knowledge about the text and
 Episodes of talk content prior to the discussion
 Includes responses by multiple students across several  Teachers must possess a well-formed idea of the key
turns concept students need to acquire during the discussion
 Characterized by an element of challenge E. Embrace space and diversity within the discourse
c. Cumulative Talk  Students’ individual experiences should be recognized
 Multiple turns where the students build on the ideas and and celebrated.
contribute to examining an idea without the element of
challenge

3. Teacher Modelling and Scaffolding

A. Five teacher moves that enhances high-level comprehension and

critical analytic thinking
1. Summarizing
2. Modelling