https://amzn.to/3VvNeNh
Decades of research (Wright, 2016), and the experience of millions of educators, make one thing abundantly clear about the modern classroom: students need to talk about their learning. Engaging students in small-group, academic conversations is one of the most effective ways to: enhance comprehension reduce misbehavior build academic language proficiency support literacy develop socioemotional skills promote question-asking and deep thinking, and create a sense of community within the classroom So why don’t all lessons have all students talking about their learning, all the time?
Unfortunately, asking students to “turn and talk” to their partners has proven frustrating for many educators, who see students not talking, or students talking about non-academic subjects, or gregarious students dominating conversations while shier students are voiceless. As a teacher, I had all of these frustrations, too. I gave my students the opportunity to talk about their learning, but I wouldn’t see them doing it—at least not the majority of my students. When I asked them why they weren’t talking, I heard a variety of responses, which I dismissed as excuses at the time:
“I don’t want to go first.” “I don’t know what the question is asking, sir.” “I didn’t learn this.” “I don’t even know what we’re supposed to be doing.”
I knew that students engaging in new activities tend to thrive with more structure, but I wasn’t sure what structure I could add to these conversations. And then I came across QSSSA. The Question, Signal, Stem, Share, Assess routine was first introduced in 7 Steps to a Language-Rich, Interactive Classroom by Seidlitz and Perryman in 2011, and has since taken modern classrooms across the nation by storm (as evidence, try an image search of QSSSA).
Research has shown that regularly using QSSSA results in enhanced participation and enthusiasm from students (Seidlitz et al., 2024). QSSSA is so effective because it provides exactly that structure I was looking for in my classroom. Students feel safe and confident in the QSSSA process and are intuitively engaged in participation. In all content areas and at all grade levels, it is one of the most versatile, effective tools in the teacher toolkit, and can be used any time you want to have students participate in structured conversations using academic language.
A Routine for Academic Language Development Each step of the QSSSA routine was deliberately designed to help students develop academic language, first by reducing the affective filter, and second by providing supports that encourage students to use academic language. Here is how to implement each step of the routine.
Ep 197. Moving from monolingualism to multilingualism w/ Dr.Lillian Ardell
Ep 195: Using TRTW w/ MLs
Ep 194: Growing Language and Literacy for Secondary MLs w/ Dr. Andrea Honigsfeld
Ep. 193: Unlocking MLs' Potential (2nd edition)
Ep 192. Heart-Centered Teaching w/ Regie Routman
Ep 191. Identity Safe Spaces w/ Dr. Cohn-Vargas & Dr. Zacarian
Ep 190. Assessing Multilinguals with Dr. Margo Gotlieb
Ep 189. Kids Come in All Language - Oscar Corrigan
Ep 188. The Writing Revolution w/ Judith Hockman and NatalieWexler
Ep 184.The Language Lens for a Content Classroom w/ Sara Ottow
187. Language of access, language of identity w/ Dr. Michelle Benegas and Natalia’s Benjamin
Ep 186. The science behind effective reading instruction for MLs w/ Dr. Claude Goldenberg
185. The Student Motivation Handbook w/Larry Ferlazzo
Ep 183. Supporting bilingual reading at home w/ Maria Potvin
Ep 182. Teaching and Supporting Newcomers w/ Dr. Dewing & Dr. Mora-Flores
Ep 180. Why a language policy should be part of a DEIJ conversation w/ Matt Hajdun
Ep 179. The Science of Reading & Biliteracy: A perfect match
Ep 178. Serving MLs through the MYP w/ Dr. Kendra Katnik
Ep 177. Teaching Math to ELLs w/ Adrian Mendoza
Create your
podcast in
minutes
It is Free
The No-Frills Teacher Podcast
Heal, Survive & Thrive!
Summarize | رادیو سامرایز
The Jordan B. Peterson Podcast
The Mel Robbins Podcast