Play 6
Habits of discussion - SHAPE
What is it?
SHAPE stands for: speak in full sentences, hands away from mouth, articulate, don’t mumble, project your voice, eye contact. When questioning students, a teacher may front load their instruction to remind students to ‘SHAPE’ their response, or reiterate a specific aspect of the acronym, eg. remember to project your voice.
SHAPE is a way to develop ‘habits of discussion’ - a TLAC technique that helps towards building a set of habits and norms that cause students to listen actively and talk to (rather than past) each other. Like SLANT, SHAPE is a strategy we use to minimise wasted seconds in learning as well as explicitly teach important prosocial behaviours associated with paying attention and respecting those who are speaking.
Why is it important?
We want our students to be articulate and confident speakers. In addition to the many links studies have shown between good oracy and academic success, the ability to articulate well, if achieved, will reach far beyond the classroom.
SHAPE is a set of tools that enables our students to build those all important habits of good talk. Imagine for a second the opposite of SHAPE. When we don’t expect the minimum of good oracy in our classrooms (via SHAPE), we begin to accept the opposite of SHAPE - single word responses, hands over the mouth, mumbling speech, muted voices and no eye contact. At best it is awkward and at worst it is rude!
“You are the only second chance for some children to have a rich language experience. If these children are not getting it at school, they are not getting it.” Professor Mercer, University of Cambridge & Director, Oracy Cambridge
What to do:
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| Call for SLANT When you require 100% attention from your students, stand in Swivel and call for SLANT in a strong voice. Expect 100% compliance. Use a combination of least invasive strategies to achieve this: I’m just waiting for two more people… | Establish discussion fundamentals Voice: When responding to questioning or class discussion, front load your instructions with the expectation that students project their voice. Track: Remind them to show interest and create a listening culture by tracking the speaker. Names: remind and expect them to use each other’s names, eg. I agree with Daniel because… | Cold call follow on This helps to socialise students to listen to each other. Eg. Daniel, do you agree with Chris? This way, we are also expecting students to be listening to their peers, not just us! | Correct and reinforce When a student falls short of SHAPE, promptly correct and reinforce. Great answer but the back row couldn’t hear - say that again 10% louder. If you need to, ‘bounce’ to another student to model the correct response and come back to the original student. Don’t settle for less. | Follow on prompting Set an expectation of being ‘always listening, always ready’ during discussions /questioning: - Directive follow on prompting: Ahmed, do you agree with Emma? - Non directive: Develop, David [David responds]...Add on to this Sara….[Sara responds] |
