Collaborative Talk

[Guest]

Does anyone have any ideas on using texts to promote collaborative talk with a small group of reception children?

My role is to help the children take control of the talk and to work independently. I then have to consider the role of talk as a means of developing children’s interaction with texts. I have thought of using a story sack or doing some type of drama but would love to hear any ideas that have worked well for you. This will be my first time in a reception class so any help would be appreciated.

[Guest]

Hi Matilda

Firstly welcome to the forum and thanks for your first post.

Have you seen the book "Storylines" by Ros Bayley? There are about 50 different situations for children to talk about including solving problems, helping others and keeping safe. She uses puppets or soft toys to aid the discussion. There is a short scenario for the teacher to read and then the children are given the opportunity to discuss how to deal with a situation, most of which they can identify with.

I think puppets or soft toys are useful props for encouraging young children to talk and get involved.

Hope this is the sort of thing that you are looking for.

Linda

[Sue R]

Hi there Matilda!

Welcome aboard, look forward to getting to know you!

 

Sue

[Susan]

hi Matilda & welcome.

Sounds like an interesting role that you have! Not sure at the moment that I have any other suggestions. The book Linda has recommended sounds good and so do the storysacs. Have you looked at the materials that have been developed for promoting speaking and listening in KS1? I havent seen them myself but we of course have some guidance within FS in the ELGs for communication.

Good luck. Do let us know how you get on.

[Helen]

Hi Matilda,

Welcome to the forum

Have you come across the book "Helping Young Children to Think Creatively?", by Ros Bayley & Lynn Broadbent? (Published by Lawrence Educational Publications)It's got loads of great ideas to get children thinking and talking, eg showing the children a lunchbox packed with unusual things such as jelly beans and cheese on sticks or blue tuna sandwiches, and asking the children if they any ideas about who might have lost it!! Or, producing a bottle with a message in it and encouraging the children to problem solve; who sent it? What we can do about it? What help do they need? How can we send a message back to them?

 

I thought the book was a good place to start; it generates lots of ideas from the children, and inspires the staff to have creative ideas of their own!

[Guest]

Hi,

 

Thanks for the warm welcome!

I hadn’t heard of either of the books suggested but I will look them up on Amazon now. Do you know if they mention specific texts to use?

You sparked off an idea of another book I had seen called ‘Teaching Citizenship Through Traditional Tales’ which also could be good as it has letters from fairy tale characters asking for the children’s help in solving a problem.

 

Thanks for your help, it's much appreciated!

[Steve]

Hi Matilda -

 

(let me first just add my welcome to the others! )

 

We have a really nice article from the author Miriam Moss which discusses strategies for developing interaction with children based around storymaking. No specific texts involved - instead an approach which encourages the children into voicing their own ideas. You can find it here.

 

Hope that helps. Also, you might find Sue Richardson's article on Circle Time interesting - again from the perspective of encouraging children into talking. This is here.

 

And lastly, Sue Ridgeway has an article on how to enthrall a young audience, which might be useful: you can find it here.

 

Hope they help - let us know!

[Guest]

Thanks Steve, they make interesting reading especially allowing the children to take the lead, something I don’t always find easy. I’m sure I’ve read something like, teachers dominate two thirds of classroom talk so I will have to try and practise my listening skills! I will let you know how I get on.

The articles on storytelling were also of interest to me as I’m doing my dissertation on this so they should prove very useful. Thanks again to you all.

[Beau]

Hi Matilda,

 

A big forum welcome from me too.