Structuring Academic Conversations

Structuring Academic Conversations
with Quizizz Lessons

7th & 8th Grade ESL RLA Teacher
Miller Intermediate

Sonja Aune

Poll

What is your experience with Quizizz?

• I've never used Quizizz materials before. I have no knowledge of this platform.

• I've used some Quizizz materials in my classroom.

• I'm comfortable creating and using Quizizz materials. I use them regularly in my classroom.

• I've used the quizzes a lot, but I've never used the lessons feature.

Poll

Do you work with emergent bilingual students? (Formerly known as English learners/LEP students)

• Yes I do!

• I'm not sure. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

• I do not work directly with emergent bilingual students right now, but my campus serves them.

• I have never worked with an emergent bilingual student.

Why classroom discussion?

​According to John Hattie's education research meta-analysis, classroom discussion has an effect size of .82. This translates to more than two years worth of typical academic growth within a single year.

Why structure conversations?

​"Despite the well understood importance of practice in developing language proficiency, research in both ELD classrooms and general education contexts has revealed that English Learners are very often passive observers during classroom discussions and activities."

​

“Interactive tasks must be carefully structured and clearly require, rather than merely encourage, correct application of the target language.”

​While this quote is specifically referring to English as the target language for our emergent bilingual students, we can replace "the target language" with "academic language", and the same rings true.
If we're not clearly requiring students to correctly apply new academic vocabulary and the language of the content we're teaching, our students may participate in discussions but without richness of language or content.

​Classroom discussion is an evidence based practice with powerful effects.

If we want students to use complex, academic language during classroom discussion, then we need to structure their conversations in a way that requires that language.

The Quizizz Lesson platform is one tool we can use to help us hold students accountable for the content and complexity of their conversations.

​

​ Productive conversation and processing happens beyond the sentence stems in language students are most comfortable with (which may be their L1), but at the end they're required to have a carefully crafted and linguistically complex response using the target academic vocabulary expressively.

Now is the part of the session where I show you all the features Quizizz Lessons have to offer.

​

Why use Quizizz?

​

From the perspective of a student, you will participate in -

• structured turn & talk

• ungraded polling

• multiple-choice check for understanding

• QSSSA structured conversation

• open-ended short constructed response

​TELPAS Journey

Poll

What proficiency level rating do you think this response earned?

• Beginning

• Intermediate

• Advanced

• Advanced High

​This student earned an advanced rating.

Multiple Choice

This student could have scored an advanced high rating if they had -

• corrected all of their grammar errors

• pronounced the words better and faster

• added more details to their response (elaborated)

Poll

What proficiency level rating do you think this response earned?

• Beginning

• Intermediate

• Advanced

• Advanced High

​This student scored an intermediate rating.

​advanced

Open Ended

What is the biggest difference between these two responses?

​This student earned an advanced high rating.

How can structured conversation help emergent bilingual students improve their TELPAS proficiency rating?

​Q:

Poll

How can structured conversation help emergent bilingual students improve their TELPAS proficiency rating?

• I have an idea. I'm ready.

• I have an idea. I'm ready.

How can structured conversation help emergent bilingual students improve their TELPAS proficiency rating?

​Stem:

​Structured conversation can help EB students improve their TELPAS proficiency rating by ________.
For example, .../In other words...

​Independent:
Once you've completed your written response, read back over it. Can you memorize what you've written?

How can structured conversation help emergent bilingual students improve their TELPAS proficiency rating?

​Share:

Structured conversation can help EB students improve their TELPAS proficiency rating by ________.
For example, .../In other words, ...

• I wrote a similar response. I wrote that...

• I wrote a somewhat different response. I wrote that...

​A

​B

Poll

While you wait for other partners to finish sharing, try to memorize your conversation!

• My partner and I are done sharing.

• My partner and I are done sharing.

How can structured conversation help emergent bilingual students improve their TELPAS proficiency rating?

Assess:

​Structured conversation can help EB students improve their TELPAS proficiency rating by ________.
For example, .../In other words, ...

• I wrote a similar response. I wrote that...

• I wrote a somewhat different response. I wrote that...

​A

​B

Open Ended

How can structured conversation help emergent bilingual students improve their TELPAS proficiency rating?

​Structured conversation can help EB students improve their TELPAS proficiency rating by ...
For example, .../ In other words...

As you can see, ...