Taking Turns
There are four essential skills to being a successful speaker:
- Taking Turns
- Speaking Confidently
- Staying on Topic
- Speaking with Clarity
At the beginning of the school year all students need to be reminded how to take turns when speaking in a group so that everyone has an equal chance to speak and be heard. In addition to simply raising your hand to request a turn to speak, students need to learn when it is appropriate to raise their hand and how to appropriately react if they are not selected to speak. By modeling expected behaviors, providing immediate feedback, and consistently reinforcing the expectations, students will learn how to take turns in a whole group discussion. If needed, look at the "Waiting to Raise your Hand" page for more ideas on how to reinforce and model waiting expectations.
Once whole group expectations are set, students are ready to begin taking turns talking with a partner. Again, begin with interactive modeling showing how to sit facing your partner, discuss who will go first, and how to signal that you are finished speaking. One great way to practice this skill in class is to use the Inside-Outside Circles conversation structure.
Once whole group expectations are set, students are ready to begin taking turns talking with a partner. Again, begin with interactive modeling showing how to sit facing your partner, discuss who will go first, and how to signal that you are finished speaking. One great way to practice this skill in class is to use the Inside-Outside Circles conversation structure.
After the students have mastered speaking with partners it is time to look at taking turns in small groups. This skill is more difficult because it is difficult for students to know when to speak and when to be quiet. Some ways to help students is to use a talking stick or index card that is a visible reminder of whose turn it is to speak. The talking stick or index card gets passed back and forth and you cannot speak unless you are holding the item. To encourage each student in a group to speak you can also give each student two talking sticks and they must use each stick at least once, but they cannot speak more than twice. Once their sticks are used up they must be the listener and give the others in the group a chance. A great way to prepare for independent, natural turn taking try using the Popcorn Model. With Popcorn the students sit in a group and get ready to share about one specific topic. When they are ready to share the "pop-up" (stand) and state their idea. The student who popped up remains standing. If two students "pop-up" at the same time they both sit down and try again until only one person is up. If one student shares an idea that another student who is still sitting also was planning, they can "pop-up" in silent agreement and remain standing. This continues until everyone in the group has popped and shared their idea.
Speaking Confidently
Begin a discussion of speaking confidently by asking students to describe what a confident speaker "Looks Like/Sounds Like. Brainstorm ideas. Then have students in a fishbowl (who have prepared in advance with teacher guidance) model how to use eye contact, voice volume, pace, and enthusiasm when speaking aloud. Have the rest of the class take notes and be prepared to add to the Brainstorm chart. After the students have modeled expectations, add to the list of "Looks Like/Sounds Like" and use these ideas to create an anchor chart that students can refer to throughout the year.
Home/School Connection
How can you help your child to practice these ideas at home?
- Have your child place an order at a restaurant using confident speaking skills.
- Help your child to speak with confidence to grandparents, neighbors, or other adults.
- Demonstrate how you speak respectfully when speaking to customer service workers at stores.
- Use family meal time to demonstrate how to take turns when having discussions.
- Be positive and reinforce their efforts to wait for their turn and to speak with confidence.