Oracy in Science: How I Get My Students Talking!

This video forms part of a longer course on teaching primary school science which you can access on Udemy. This lecture looks at encouraging pupil talk and oracy in Primary School Science. Access the full course at: https://www.udemy.com/course/teaching... Pupil talk provides them with a way to develop and express their ideas, as well as comparing them with the ideas of others, which helps to develop critical thinking. Right across the curriculum, talk engages children, motivates them to use their speaking and listening skills and helps them learn how to respect and respond to each other. There are many different strategies you could use, such as: Odd One Out: The class is shown 3 or 4 different pictures (or real objects) and asked to say which is the odd one out and why. The ‘why’ is key – the children justify their reasoning and so reveal their thinking. There’s usually no single correct answer, any one of the options could be chosen as long as the reasoning is valid. For example an image of a bar of chocolate, a bottle of water and a balloon. PMI (Plus, Minus, Interesting): The class are given a scenario or a statement and then consider the positives, the minuses and any interesting associated ideas. For example, what if nothing decayed? What if all sounds had the same pitch? Big Questions: Give the class a chance to discuss something big. Prompt with a picture, an object or a simple demonstration of a process to engage them and to support your question. Why don’t birds get electrocuted on power lines? Do aliens exist? etc. Concept Cartoons: These can be used as a means of stimulating small group discussion. The children can discuss the scenario, and then give their own explanations. These are very useful for introducing a working scientifically activity. Talking Points: These are statements about a topic that can be either factually accurate, open to debate or simply wrong. Children decide in pairs whether the statements are true or false. Using Images: A powerful image can be a good stimulus to encourage children to engage in effective talk in science. They can also be used as a starting point for inquiry. https://www.sciencefix.co.uk/2024/06/...