During pair talk tasks, most of us will have noticed both partners talking at the same time, or just one partner doing all the talking.
One easy way to avoid these problems is to have pupils decide whether they are ‘Partner 1’ or ‘Partner 2’ and then instruct accordingly:
Simply tell one of the partners to start: Partner 2, you talk first.
Or, give additional structure, for example Partner 1, start by saying three things you find interesting about the text. Then: Partner 2, build on one of Partner 1’s points.
More tips for pair talk
