Conversation Skills/Techniques Teacher Resources

Elmo likes Brussels sprouts and Jessica Alba likes corn, salad, and corn. Jessica has three dogs and Elmo has a pet gold fish. It's fun to get to know a new friend. This friendly conversation could be a useful example.

Part 12 starts with the Navajo story of creation and the journey of the ancient ancestors. Spencer argues the facts of this story with his genetic evidence. This episode recaps the journey thus far and attempts to describe the difference...

Two types of radiation are discussed in this conversation between a professional and a preteen scientist. Solar rays and galactic cosmic rays are extremely powerful and need to be shielded against when astronauts travel in space....

A tea party in Wonderland? An East Egg brunch with Gatsby, Daisy, Tom, and Nick? Breakfast with Miss Havisham, Lady Macbeth, and Abigail Williams? Or dinner with Andre, Hamlet, and Randle Patrick McMurphy? Class members select a favorite...

From generalizing and justifying to megacognition reflection and perseverance, keep the 16 Habits of Mind as part of an ongoing and developing conversation in your class by displaying these posters around your room throughout...

Your high schoolers are probably versed in two languages: formal language, and informal conversation. Help them identify the correct language style for their audience and context with a thorough lesson and examples of different speech...

Good question are the heart of great discussions. To prepare for a book club discussion, introduce young readers to the characteristics of good conversation-starting questions. Practice crafting questions for a text the class has...

Here is an imaginative take on a classic lesson! Young scholars discover what color Valentine Candy is found more often than any other in a standard bag of Valentine Conversation Hearts. They observe, predict, sort, and classify the data...

Everybody loves to contribute to the conversation, but it needs to be done politely so as not to interrupt. Help your little ones learn how to add to a conversation appropriately with a few activities that complement the book, My Mouth...

It's never to early to introduce childen to good manners. It's often assumed that they will just "learn" them on their own, but that's not true! For this simple lesson, pupils practice using good manners and conversation skills at a...

Seventh graders are introduced to Earth day--- what is it and why do we care, ease into topic of pollution, where have they seen pollution in their community, steer conversation in the direction of the Anacostia. They are reintroduced...

What is dialogue? What must it contain? Use this plan to discuss dialogue with your emerging writers. They write a dialogue in script form to dramatize a conversation. Dialogue examples are included. 

Is your class reading Pride and Prejudice? In order to link scenes to the themes in Austen's novel, pairs take on the confrontation between Lady Catherine and Elizabeth (Chapter XIV). After writing their own version of the...

Death is a difficult topic that we often choose to avoid discussing. Dr. Peter Saul, however, encourages his audience to begin a conversation on what dying means to each of us and how we see its place in our lives. Use this as a way to...

It's rational to root for your class to learn about exponents. Scholars study rational exponents by reading a fictional dialogue between classmates. They analyze the conversation to understand the connection between rational exponents...

Here's a resource teachers won't want to wash their hands of. Given a task where a full bar of soap is on one side of a balance and 3/4 of a bar of soup and a 3/4-ounce weight is on the other side, young mathematicians must determine the...

A silent discussion? Indeed. Readers engage in a silent conversation about Victor Martinez's award-winning novel by recording questions, insights, and comments on the board.

StoryCorp provides a resource that captures and preserves the remembrances of family or community elders. Prior to the Thanksgiving holiday, class members select a person they want to interview, record the conversation, and then upload...

Four is the perfect number—if you're talking about parallelograms. Scholars determine a possible fourth vertex of a parallelogram in the coordinate plane given the coordinates of three vertices. They read a conversation...

Three heads are better than one. After reading a conversation between three friends about how to compare fractions, scholars analyze and discuss each presented strategy. These include using unit fractions, using benchmark fractions,...

If the fractions don't have a common denominator, make them have one. Learners first read and analyze a conversation of pupils trying to add 2/5 and 1/2. They compare the process of adding fractions to the process of adding quantities...

Could you develop your own way to add fractions with unlike denominators? An in-depth task has scholars examine a fictional conversation between several people in which they discuss a method of adding fractions with unlike denominators....

Students explore the social policies of early America. In this etiquette lesson, students read George Washington's "110 Rules of Civility and Decent Behavior in Company and Conversation." Students identify expectations for their own...

Don't think negatively about exponents. Young mathematicians dissect a fictional conversation between pupils trying to evaluate an expression with a negative exponent. This allows them to understand the meaning of negative exponents.