Vocabulary Turn and Talk

Dr. Tambra Isenberg: Who is collaborating in this picture?

Students: Elephants. Elephants.

Dr. Tambra Isenberg: The elephants are collaborating.

VO: Today, Dr. Tambra Isenberg has introduced a new word to these kindergartners at Holy Family School in Cincinnati, Ohio. Collaborate.

Dr. Tambra Isenberg: Collaborate means working together as a team. Okay. Repeat after me. "Collaborate means."

Students: "Collaborate means."

Dr. Tambra Isenberg: "Working together."

Students: "Working together."

Dr. Tambra Isenberg: "As a team."

Students: "As a team."

VO: She's talked through lots of examples with them, including pictures. Now she wants to help the students get comfortable using the word themselves with an activity called Turn and Talk.

Dr. Tambra Isenberg: Okay. I want you to think. I'm going to ask you to turn and talk. Twos are going to talk first, and you're going to think of a time when you had to collaborate. I saw you collaborate today. I want you to think of a time when you had to collaborate or work together with someone. You're going to start with, I collaborate when. How are you going to start?

Everyone: "I collaborate when ..."

Dr. Tambra Isenberg: Go ahead and turn and talk. Twos talk first. I want to hear what you and Legacy collaborate.

Student: I collaborate making a bracelet with my sister.

Dr. Tambra Isenberg: Oh, that's nice. You make matching bracelets?

VO: Many of the students in this class are English learners, so it's no surprise to hear some of them use the Spanish word for collaborate, which is colaborar as they turn and talk. And this will help them learn to read. Tapping into a home language strengthens the connection to meaning and helps the new word stick.

Student: Yo colaboré [con] mi mamá porque me ama. 

[other student applauds]

Reading Universe is made possible by generous support from Jim and Donna Barksdale; the Hastings/Quillin Fund, an advised fund of the Silicon Valley Community Foundation; the Emily Hall Tremaine Foundation; the AFT; and several anonymous donors. Special thanks to the Center for Reading Science at Mount St. Joseph University and Holy Family School located in Cincinnati, Ohio. If you enjoyed this video, please subscribe to our YouTube channel @RUTeaching. Reading Universe is a service of WETA Washington D.C. and was developed in collaboration with the Barksdale Reading Institute and First Book.