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        <title>Content Areas</title>
        <link>http://pps-pajaro-ca.schoolloop.com</link>
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                <title>Talking Stick</title>
                <description><![CDATA[Talking stick is one of my favorite routines for getting kids talking in small groups during the &amp;ldquo;You Do Together&amp;rdquo; portion of the lesson. The beauty of this routine is that students get more than one opportunity to talk, freeing you up to walk around and really listen. Remember, as with any routine, make sure to start by teaching the simplest variation, with language your students already know, before using it with the target language and moving on to more complex variations. Focusing on this routine over the course of consecutive days will help your students understand your expectations, allowing you to then introduce fun variations. Sample Script for teaching the Routine: Teacher : I need 4 volunteers to help me teach the class how to use Talking Stick. Everyone else needs to watch and listen so you can do this routine with your groups. The talking stick is going to travel around the circle without skipping anyone. The person with the talking stick gets to talk first and everyone else listens so they can give feedback. As the volunteers &amp;ldquo;fishbowl&amp;rdquo; this routine, use the sample chart below to help students clearly understand your expectations. Yes No I talked using the target language when I had the stick I passed the talking stick to the next person when I was done I listened to the person that had the talking stick to make sure what they said made sense I politely let others know if they made a mistake Now debrief using the sample chart. Next, have your students practice in small groups and then debrief again using the chart above. Keep practicing and using the chart to debrief until you are satisfied with students participation in this routine. Change the prompt as you practice to keep interest. Tips for Success Start simple with language your students already know to help them master the routine. Have a clear signal letting students know when to start, such as starting a timer. Let students know that they should keep going after they finish one round. Challenge them to see how many rounds they can complete in the time allotted. Teach your students how to give polite feedback to help other students self-correct. Variations Question/Answer- One person poses a question and everyone else takes a turn answering. On the next round, the second person asks the question and everyone answers, etc. Question/Answer Chain- One student asks a question, the next one answers and then asks a new question of the next person. That person continues the chain by answering and then asking a new question of the following person. Hot Seat: When students need to use materials such as picture cards, have the materials on one desk and the students move. Instead of passing the taking stick and the materials, students rotate from one seat to the next. The person sitting in front of the materials speaks. Original Thinker: Students cannot repeat what someone else already said. They must create their own sentence. You can support students in doing this by letting them cross off vocabulary that they have already used (great for small posters and dry erase pens). After the groups do talking stick, each group chooses one sentence to share with the whole class. Use the echo routine to have the whole class repeat. Take it to Writing Choose one sentence to take to writing after a few rounds of talking stick. ]]></description>
                <link>http://pps-pajaro-ca.schoolloop.com/news/view?id=1356615790829</link>
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                <pubDate>Fri, 15 Mar 2013 00:00:00 -0700</pubDate>
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            <item>
                <title>Partner Talk (Part 2)</title>
                <description><![CDATA[You are the experts when it comes to knowing your students&amp;rsquo; strengths, needs, social skills, and personalities. Put your expertise to good use when establishing partners. Here are some different ways to think about partnering: Think Personality: Very verbal students might overwhelm the quieter students who need more thinking time to feel safe sharing. Be sure that the partners are balanced enough that each person will feel safe thinking, listening, and speaking. This is especially important at the beginning of the year when students are still getting to know each other. Think Gender: In my third grade classroom I had some difficulty convincing my students that boys could be partners with girls and vice versa. What I found was that my students were a lot more tolerant of working with people they wouldn&amp;rsquo;t necessarily choose to work with when they knew that sometimes they would get a choice or that they would be partnering with multiple people on the same day. Think Maturity Level: Even within the same grade level, we notice students at vastly different maturity levels. Sometimes matching a more mature student with a less mature student helps bring out the best in both. The mature student can play the role of peer mentor and the less mature student has a good model. Make sure that your more mature students also get a chance to work with their similarly mature peers. I found that my mature third grade students were especially appreciative of such pairings. Ask your students: Have your students generate a list of a few students they feel they would work well with. Make sure that they understand that they may not get to work with these students at all times, but that you will give them a chance to work with them over the course of a few weeks or months. Showing your students that they have a voice might help create an environment of trust and sharing. Mix it up: Variety is the spice of life for kids and adults alike. Make sure that your students have the opportunity to work with a wide variety of partners throughout the year. Please send us your suggestions for partnering. We would love to hear more great ideas that are working in your classrooms! ]]></description>
                <link>http://pps-pajaro-ca.schoolloop.com/news/view?id=1356608015814</link>
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                <pubDate>Fri, 11 Jan 2013 00:00:00 -0800</pubDate>
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