Talk skills for science lessons

I can EXPLAIN!

The new national curriculum recognises the importance of spoken language in science, highlighting the role it has to play in the development of scientific vocabulary and children’s ability to articulate scientific concepts clearly and precisely. But this is not just a skill for the classroom. Being able to back your ideas with rational justifications and use evidence to support claims to knowledge are just as crucial in the wider world; two skills that rely on good scientific literacy.

The obvious starting point for developing children’s verbal reasoning is within the context of group work, which can raise children’s achievement across the curriculum and improve their thinking skills. Since children frequently work in groups and talk to one another in many different contexts, it’s easy to assume they will succeed at any classroom activity that requires collaboration. However, in practice, teachers are often disappointed with the outcomes of such tasks – it’s not uncommon for one child to dominate while others take a back seat, or for unresolved disagreements to disrupt learning.

The reality is that genuinely effective group talk is rare in classrooms as children need to be explicitly taught how to communicate. Similarly, any tasks given to children require careful consideration – a successful group talk activity is one in which all members contribute, resolve disagreements, and where the achievement of the group is greater than that of any one individual.

Explicit teaching of talk skills

A good strategy for helping children to develop effective group talk skills is to ask them to establish some ground rules. For example, they might agree to take it in turns to talk, or decide that every idea must be supported by a reason – and that it’s OK to ask others to give reasons. Some groups may decide to allocate roles (e.g. describer, note taker and questioner), changing roles with each new task. Rules like these will help children to respect each other’s ideas and take the time to consider the opinion of every group member. It also enables them to disagree without causing difficulties within the group, or between individuals.

The excellent book, Talk Box (David Fulton, 2004), provides a series of activities to develop good group talk skills, as does Thinking Together (Imaginative Minds, 2000), which offers a very similar approach – but with activities designed for older primary children.

Planning activities

In 2012, I led a pilot project called “I can explain!”, during which we created lessons and resources to develop children’s scientific understanding using group talk (the programme has since been introduced to all primary schools in Richmond upon Thames).

In a typical “I can explain!” lesson, children work in groups of three to four and use pictures as the stimulus for discussion.

For example, they might be asked to sequence – or group – a set of eight small pictures of things that make sounds. The children work and talk together to agree on a sequence. Once this has been completed, a teacher or a child from another group can ask them to justify their chosen order. This encourages the children to link their ideas to their existing science knowledge.

Another task might involve the children looking at a bigger picture, perhaps depicting a garden scene, and using this to answer questions such as, “What season do you think it is?” The garden picture has deliberately been drawn so that the season is ambiguous. This lack of obvious certainty means the children have to justify their choice with a reason, e.g. “I think it is winter because that tree had no leaves.”

Another child who does not agree might then challenge this: “But the tree could be dead. I think it is spring because there is a baby hedgehog.” From a simple starter question, a relatively sophisticated discussion can develop.

Throughout a series of similar tasks, the children work as a group to generate explanations, using the pictures to provide evidence and to help them think about what they already know or understand. They are encouraged to use the language of rational discussion consistently, e.g. “I think…because…”. Children are expected to reach a group agreement and justify the opinions and choices they have made. As they become more competent and confident with this way of working, they are encouraged to challenge the contrasting ideas of other groups.

Children’s progress

Through the “I can explain!” activities, the children experience an exploratory way of learning that encourages a community of enquiry, and is less threatening than some other types of science lesson.

Teachers who have used the materials report that talk-based science activities have aided cognitive development and that children with low confidence or ability have been encouraged to participate in all lessons – feeling pleased to have done so even if their ideas turned out not to be correct.

From a teacher’s perspective, the materials can also support science assessment, making it easier to judge a child’s level of understanding and when he or she has made progress.

We want today’s primary school children to succeed in the world of tomorrow’s scientists where advances in science are likely to be made by a collaborative effort. Learning the skills to communicate their ideas effectively to others has never been more important.

More information about the “I can explain!” materials and training can be found on the Primary Science Teaching Trust website (pstt.org.uk).