Conversations that Build Literacy Skills For All Students with Tricia Zucker | EP 27

It has long been said in the world of literacy education that reading and writing float on a sea of talk. What should we do when navigating students through those seas isn’t always easy? At times, it can be challenging to ensure that the academic discussions you have with students about a text avoid confusion and coddling. Fortunately, I got to talk with Tricia Zucker about her book, Strive for Five Conversations: A Framework That Gets Kids Talking to Accelerate Their Language Comprehension and Literacy. Join us as we discuss practical and powerful ways to use conversation to help all students become better thinkers, readers, listeners, and speakers. This is The LP.

Tricia Zucker, Ph.D., is a former early childhood teacher, and a Professor of Pediatrics and Co-Director of the Children’s Learning Institute at the University of Texas Health Science Center in Houston. Dr. Zucker’s research focuses on early literacy and language development for children experiencing learning difficulties.

Key Takeaways

• Strive for Five extends typical three-turn conversations to five turns, creating deeper classroom discussions.
• Teachers must decide in the third turn whether to scaffold up (challenge) or down (simplify) based on student responses.
• High-quality conversations build trust, allowing students to feel safe even when answering incorrectly.
• The framework effectively supports vocabulary development for all students, including English language learners.
• Strive for Five can be used across all subjects and even in non-academic settings like playgrounds.

Resources

• Article: Using Strive-for-Five Conversations to Strengthen Language Comprehension in Preschool through Grade One by Sonia Q. Cabell and Tricia Zucker
• Webinar: Accelerate Language Comprehension with the Strive-for-Five Framework: The Science of Reading in Practice Series by EdWeb
• Podcast: Conversations that Transform Learning with Sonia Cabell by Dr. Sonia Cabell
• Tutorial: Strive-for-Five Conversations With Upward Scaffolds by Scholastic
• Tutorial: Strive-for-Five Conversations With Downward Scaffolds by Scholastic