Speaking to Think Thinking to Speak Thinking to Speak: The Importance of Talk in the Learning Process

Students of all ability levels deserve a chance to succeed. Speaking to Think/Thinking to Speak offers a method of instruction that enables teachers to give every student that chance. Since speaking to others, and ourselves, is the primary way we learn throughout our lives, excluding or minimizing talk in the classroom can handicap many learners. Virginia O'Keefe argues that sharing learning, processing knowledge, and practicing skills aloud help all learners achieve more academically.

Her book explains the value of classroom talk, showing how it works and offering practical solutions to make it successful. Speaking to Think/Thinking to Speak:

• examines the function of student-questioner in the discovery classroom
• provides specific guidelines for whole-class discussions to encourage total student involvement
• describes numerous activities to spark creativity and tap students' interest and motivation
• demonstrates the small-group process with step-by-step instructions, examples, and activities
• presents alternative approaches to reading literature that emphasize oral reader response
• explores issues of the reluctant speaker with suggestions for addressing this problem
• suggests ways to assess speaking and listening skills without exacerbating communication fears
• addresses listening in the learning process.

With this book, teachers will have a repertoire of manageable ways to encourage student participation without losing structure. Activities are classroom tested. Transcripts of small-group and whole-class discussions demonstrate how talk builds ideas. Finally, student writings and the author's journal observations offer glimpses into the learning/speaking process and inspire creative uses of talk in the classroom.