Oral Language Development Forums

Discussions around Oral Language Development that relate directly to the integration of participation structures in the early grades.

These forums are related to the Oral Language Development participation strategy section of the New Teacher Center's Community of Practice site. If you are an active teacher or mentor, you may have insights to the discussions below. But to gain more perspective and understanding of the importance and practice of enhancing oral language in the early grades, please visit our rich resources, tools, video examples, and leveled readers, in our Oral Language Development site.

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How does a teacher use observation during an actual lesson?

by Karl Forest on Tue, 06/29/2010 - 2:50pm
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When a teacher is in the middle of a lesson, real time, what can observations of student responses, activities and interactions provide? Is there a difference between formal and informal observational data? If so, how can the teacher use both to guide both general instruction and specific student instructional needs?

How can participation structures be used across the content areas throughout the school day?

by Karl Forest on Tue, 06/29/2010 - 2:12pm
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As you view examples of the participation structures in the OLD site, what comes to mind? What are you reminded of? Do you see ways specific structures can be used in other content areas, such as science, math, social studies and more?

How does modeling a participation structure or strategy help students increase their discussion with a partner?

by Karl Forest on Tue, 06/29/2010 - 1:12pm
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Teacher or student modeling is a powerful instructional tool. How does modeling a participation structure or strategy help students increase their discussion with a partner? Is modeling a one time strategy, or can it be used to reinforce high performing activities over time?

What are some ways that the teacher could do “on the spot” assessment with this participation structure?

by Karl Forest on Tue, 06/29/2010 - 10:41am
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As students are engaged in any participation structure, what can the teacher do to formatively assess student oral language skills on the fly, or on the spot? What preparation, strategies and suggestions do you have for a new or experienced teacher?

What do you notice regarding the effect of the use of any participation structure in a lesson?

by Karl Forest on Tue, 06/29/2010 - 9:04am
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When observing any of the video clips in the Oral Language Development (OLD) teaching practice site, what happens in the classroom when any of the participation structures* are used during a lesson? How do students respond? What does the teacher do? Is equity enhanced? Any other observations about student engagement or teaching strategies to consider?

How does the teacher set developmentally appropriate expectations for oral language and model these for students in different group settings?

by Karl Forest on Thu, 06/24/2010 - 2:38pm
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What does a the teacher do to set developmentally appropriate expectations for oral language and model these for students in a variety of classroom settings, (whole class, small group, individual)? Are different methods used? How does the teacher converse with them, and how do they converse with each other?

How does the teacher’s use of an oral language participation structure advance instruction and students’ learning?

by Karl Forest on Wed, 06/23/2010 - 3:10pm
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When viewing video clips regarding any participation structure* in the Oral Language Development site, what did the teacher specifically do to enhance instruction, and how did students use the structure to process and communicate their learning?