Talk Circle 2: Paired Talk

What you'll learn in this Talk Circle

Paired Talk

This session guides teachers to understand and apply the Oracy Teacher Benchmarks, develop effective Paired Talk strategies, and use targeted feedback and praise to improve students’ oracy skills.

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Understand and apply the Oracy Teacher Benchmarks

Learn how to explain the Oracy Teacher Benchmark to colleagues, identify your strengths and areas for development, and use these Benchmarks to plan oracy practice in classrooms across your school.

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Develop effective Paired Talk strategies

Explore how to facilitate structured paired talk using strategies such as sentence stems, and modelling, ensuring students meet high expectations for engagement, clarity, and collaboration in talk.

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Give targeted feedback and praise to support oracy

Discover how to provide specific feedback and praise linked to the four strands of the Oracy Framework, reinforcing high expectations, encouraging student progress, and improving the quality of classroom talk.

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Step 1

Watch the introduction video

In this video, Alice Stott walks you through everything you need to know about Talk Circle 2 — how it works, what you'll need, and how to get started. Whether you're just starting out or looking to deepen existing practice, this Talk Circle supports facilitators in leading rich professional discussions, using real classroom examples for students of all ages and the Voice 21 Oracy Benchmarks.

Step 2

Download the Talk Circle resources

To get started with Talk Circle 2: Paired Talk, download all 5 free resources below. These materials include everything you need to run the session confidently or follow along step by step, whether you're leading or participating.

What's included?

ZIP File | 5 Documents

  • Talk Circles Teacher Self-Evaluation Tool Word Document
  • Talk Circle 2 Paired Talk-Facilitator Notes PDF Document
  • Talk Circle 2 Paired Talk - Session Handout
         Word Document
  • Talk Circle 2 Paired Talk slides PowerPoint Presentation
  • Talk Circle 2: Video Clip Commentaries
         PDF Document
Download all Talk Circle Two resources

Or download resources individually

  • Teacher Self-Evaluation Tool

     Word Document
Download

  • Paired Talk - Facilitator Notes

     PDF
Download

  • Paired Talk: Session Handouts

     PDF
Download

  • Paired Talk: Slides

     PowerPoint Presentation
Download

  • Talk Circle 2: Video Clip Commentaries

     PDF Document
Download
Step 3

Follow the lesson slides

To support your facilitation of Talk Circle 2, use the PowerPoint presentation below to guide your session. These slides provide a structured pathway through a shared understanding of the key principles of Oracy. They include video examples, discussion prompts, and suggested timings to ensure that everyone can engage meaningfully with the material. As a facilitator, refer to the slide notes for talking points and activities, ensuring that all participants can contribute to and reflect on the concepts of learning to talk and learning through talk.

IMPORTANT NOTE

For the safety and protection of children, all videos featuring minors are password-protected. Please use the following password to play a video: 0racy$tudyGroup1

 

 

Step 4

Share your feedback with Voice 21

Voice 21 is on a mission to make oracy an ordinary part of every child's education, and we need your help. For the first time, Voice 21 is expanding beyond its Oracy School network to invite more educators, like you, to access and practice high-quality oracy education in your classrooms.

We're always looking for ideas and feedback on how we can improve our resources so please submit your feedback and share your experience with this Talk Circle. Your thoughts will help us refine and enhance this resource for schools everywhere.

Share your feedback on Talk Circle 2
FAQ

Have a question?

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Developed by oracy experts at Voice 21, Talk Circles are a set of ready-to-use oracy teacher training materials which can be used to support the development of high-quality oracy teaching practice throughout your school.

Each Talk Circle includes everything you need to lead a powerful oracy CPD session including facilitator notes, video clips, handouts, and slides, all designed to spark dialogue and model practical oracy strategies. They’re flexible, editable, and can be adapted to fit your school’s context, priorities, and CPD schedule.

 

Talk Circles are for educators looking to develop oracy in their schools, whether you're just getting started or building on existing practice. They’re designed for use in a range of settings, from whole-school CPD to smaller teams like year groups or subject phases.

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