Conversation Observation & Analysis Tool

TEACHER Notes STUDENT Notes

on teacher use of Quantity on quantity &
supports & ☐ # of turns quality
structures to ☐ Length of turns
scaffold quantity
☐ Equitable participation
& quality,

Quality

☐ Use conversation skills to co-construct an idea(s)

__ Students pose or choose a relevant initial idea(s) that helps

students learn what they need to learn
__ Students clarify idea(s) (by paraphrasing, defining,
elaborating, asking questions, negotiating, etc.)
__ Students support ideas (using evidence, examples,
explanations)

__ If there is an argument or decision to be made, students build

up both (all) ideas and:
__ (a) evaluate the strength/weight of the evidence of each idea
__ (b) compare the strengths/weights and choose the
“strongest/heaviest” idea (negotiate and explain differing
values, if needed)
__ (c) explain final choice

☐ Effective listening (focus, value, backchannel)

☐ Clear speaking (+ use language asked for in prompt)

☐ Academic thinking (+ use thinking asked for in prompt)

☐ Academic content (+ talk about content asked for in prompt)

☐ Nonverbal communication (posture, head nods, eye contact)

☐ Value one another’s ideas, thinking, and feelings

Adapted from Zwiers, J. (2019). Next Steps with Academic Conversations:

New Ideas for Improving Learning with Classroom Talk. Stenhouse Publishers. jeffzwiers.org