Accountable and Academic Student Talk Stems

1. Select/create a few sentence stems to meet content objectives. For example, for students to explain, justify, or defend their thinking:

• I think this because....

• My main reason for thinking this is....

• The most important reason this is true is....

2. Test your sentence stems by formulating questions of your own to prompt student use of sentence stems.

• Note these where you'll have them handy, such as in your lesson plan or lesson notes or on an anchor chart.

3. Always state a purpose for a student conversation. For example, "I want you to summarize what you just read and tell your partner." Make sure the sentence stems you provide for students matches the purpose of the talk.

4. The first time you use sentence stems, introduce and model using sentence stems with a peer or student. Part of this process includes modeling the acceptance of feedback.

• Have students first observe and share what they noticed.

  • What did you see us doing?

  • What did you hear?

  • How do you think it felt for the person listening? For the person talking?

• Have students practice with a partner, while you observe. Try not to intervene or help.

• Debrief the strategy with students.

  • What worked?

  • What didn't work?

  • What can be done to improve our talk?

5. Create greater talk accountability by closing with a share out, asking students what their partner or another group member said.

6. Prior to the next accountable and/or academic talk, quickly review the previous reflection as well as the talk stems.

• Continue using Step 4 until students are experienced using accountable talk stems.

• Return to Step 4 at any point when students might be struggling. This often occurs when the rigor of the questions increases.

Peer feedback stems guide students in giving and responding to feedback.

The student using talk stems to provide feedback is guided to select specific information or to dig into their thinking in order to fulfill the specificity of the sentence stem, thus upping the rigor of the learning experience.

The student who is responding to the feedback is provided with meaningful, timely feedback that allows them to revise their thinking and work, thus growing their understanding. Also, the student responding to feedback can use sentences stems to ask for greater specificity, examples, or to disagree, so that they can interpret and act on the feedback.

Accountability measures, revision time, and clear expectations significantly increase the impact of peer feedback.

Implementation Steps

1. Select/create a few sentence stems to meet feedback and content objectives such as the I Like, I Wish, I Wonder Peer Feedback Protocol. Remember to include stems for responding to feedback.
   • For example, students could give each other feedback on a presentation with: I like...., I wish...., and I wonder...., I liked that too, because ...., Could you tell me more about....? or, I respectfully disagree with...., because....
2. Test your feedback sentence stems while looking at an example of student work. Things to consider:
   • Is the feedback task too broad or narrow? For example, students might benefit from separating feedback on writing mechanics from feedback on writing content.
   • Is the feedback-giving task directly related to the content/skills objective?
   • Will the results of the feedback be immediately actionable? Feedback gets stale if it isn't acted on immediately. The time to revise thinking and work is in the moment of the feedback.
   • Is the task worthy of peer feedback? This is variable depending on the grade level and skills being learned. Having students examine each other's writing for the use of a period at end of sentences is appropriate for first grade, but not as a solo task for third grade.
3. Incorporate the feedback stems into the assignment documents, so that students do not have to shuffle papers or tabs to move from feedback stems to the work receiving feedback.
4. Establish with students clarify and specificity on what appropriate feedback is and isn't. Display this information on an anchor chart and refer back to it proactively.
5. Model giving and accepting feedback using feedback talk stems. Have students observe and share what they noticed:
   • Was the feedback clear?  
   • Was there enough information?
   • How do you think it felt for the person getting the feedback? For the person giving the feedback? (Was it respectful? Was it helpful?)
6. Have students practice with a partner while you observe. Try not to intervene or help.
7. Debrief the strategy with students.
   • What worked?
   • What didn't work?
   • What can be done to improve our talk?
8. Create greater accountability by closing with a share out, asking students what feedback they received, and then asking the student's partner why they gave that feedback. This is another opportunity for students to practice the feedback stems (both giving and receiving), and their use should also be modeled by the teacher in facilitating the conversation.
9.  Prior to the next accountable and/or academic talk opportunity, quickly review the improvements as well as the talk stems.
   • Continue using Steps 4, 5, and 6 until students are rooted in the process.
   • Return to these steps at any point when students might be struggling with appropriate and helpful feedback.