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5th grade · English Language Arts · Unit 13 of 17

Talking Together

Share ideas and solve problems as a team

What your child practices

Speaking and listening in a group: taking turns, building on ideas, asking questions, disagreeing respectfully and reaching decisions together.

New York State Learning Standards learning standard: 5SL1 · sharing ideas, building on others and disagreeing respectfully in a group

How we explain it

Children can open this short lesson before they practice.

  1. Take turns and wait until a speaker finishes.
  2. Build on ideas, and check you understood: “So you are saying…?”
  3. Disagree kindly: “I see your point. Here is another idea.” Decide together with a vote or agreement.

Example: Your group disagrees with you. What is a respectful reply? Respect means valuing their idea before sharing yours. Then offer your own idea calmly. Answer: I see your point. Here is another idea.

Talking Together in New York

In the New York State Learning Standards, this is unit 13 of 17 in 5th grade English Language Arts, after Write for Your Reader and before Read With a Purpose.

Gradelings describes a child's practice on this unit as Beginning, Approaching, Meeting or Exceeding (Four practice steps). That reflects practice, not a report-card mark: the teacher decides the mark.

Source: New York State Education Department (NYSED)

Sample questions

A taste of this unit. In the app, questions change every time and get easier or harder to match your child.

  1. Question 1

    Which sentence restates what someone said to check you understood?

    • I was not listening.
    • Let's do mine instead.
    • So you are saying that we should start with the map, right?
    • That is boring.

  2. Question 2

    A group member is quiet. What could you do?

    • Speak for them
    • Ignore them
    • Tell them to hurry
    • Invite them to share: 'What do you think?'

  3. Question 3

    Which of these is a good way to share a problem you cannot solve alone?

    • Keep quiet and hope no one notices
    • Explain where you are stuck and ask the group for ideas
    • Take over someone else's work
    • Give up

  4. Question 4

    A group has to choose a topic. What is a fair way to decide?

    • The loudest person picks
    • Skip the decision
    • Take turns sharing ideas, then vote or reach agreement together
    • Pick whichever topic you like alone

  5. Question 5

    Another speaker's idea is different from yours but has good evidence. What should you do?

    • Be open to changing your mind
    • Change the topic
    • Ignore the evidence
    • Argue louder

  6. Question 6

    Which is a fact you could use to support your point in a discussion?

    • Everyone loves recycling.
    • Recycling is the best.
    • I think paper is boring.
    • Our class recycled 120 kg of paper last month.

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