Must-Have Books to Get Your Students Talking

Hi Teacher Friend! 

We all know how important (and challenging!) it is to get students talking and thinking deeply in the classroom, right?

In this post, we’re sharing 3 awesome books to support academic talk in your lessons. Your students will feel more confident, think critically, and communicate like pros. Let’s get those conversations flowing!

Academic Conversations: Classroom Talk That Fosters Critical Thinking and Content Understandings by Jeff Zwiers and Marie Crawford 

Looking to foster deeper, more meaningful conversations in your classroom? Academic Conversations is packed with practical strategies and lesson activities to teach five essential skills: elaborating, supporting ideas with evidence, building and challenging ideas, paraphrasing, and synthesizing.

You’ll find research on why these conversations matter, tips for classroom management, ready-to-use lesson activities, ideas for various content areas, and tools for assessment (including checklists, which we love!). We always recommend this book for ALL teachers who want to boost critical thinking and collaboration in their classroom! 

Next Steps with Academic Conversations: New Ideas for Improving Learning Through Classroom Talk by Jeff Zwiers

In Academic Conversations, Jeff Zwiers introduces the essential skills for fostering meaningful classroom discussions. Next Steps with Academic Conversations is a follow-up book that goes even deeper! It has strategies, tools, and frameworks to refine and expand skills like building ideas and argumentation... taking academic talk in your classroom to the next level.

This book will also help you overcome common classroom challenges, like keeping discussions focused and ensuring every student participates meaningfully. It also includes updated research, new scaffolding techniques, and ready-to-use lesson plans that work across all subject areas. If you loved Academic Conversations like we did, this sequel will give you even more ideas to get authentic conversations happening in your classroom!

If you want to learn more about what the research says about academic talk, check out our podcast episode with Jeff Zwiers.

Strive-for-Five Conversations: A Framework That Gets Kids Talking to Accelerate Their Language Comprehension and Literacy by Tricia Zucker and Sonia Cabell

You’ve got to check out Strive-for-Five Conversations by Sonia Cabell and Tricia Zucker! It’s perfect for PreK-1st grade (and even older students who need a boost) teachers looking to help kids talk more while building their reading and language comprehension skills.

This book breaks down how to use simple, responsive conversation strategies during read-alouds and throughout the day. Grounded in the science of reading, it’s a practical, easy-to-read guide that helps teachers give all kids the language practice they need to become confident readers. If you want to get your students chatting more while building their literacy, this book is a must-read!

Don’t miss our podcast episode with Sonia Cabell and Tricia Zucker, where they dive into strategies to get kids talking!