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Display a visual related to the lesson topic and ask students to form questions based on what they see. This encourages curiosity and enhances visual literacy.

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Pose a question to the class. Students first think about their answer individually, then pair up to discuss their thoughts. Finally, they share their answers with the whole class. This practice helps build confidence and verbal skills.

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Provide students with sentence starters to help them form complete thoughts and sentences. For example, "I think that..." or "I noticed that...". This aids in structuring responses.

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Divide the class into small groups and provide each group with a question or topic to discuss. Have them record key points and share them with the class. This encourages collaboration and deeper understanding.

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Model the thinking process by verbalizing your thoughts as you read a passage or solve a problem. This method helps students understand how to approach tasks and develop their critical thinking.

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Pair or group students and assign them different aspects of a topic to teach to each other. This peer interaction enhances understanding and language use.

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Post questions or topics on chart paper around the classroom. Students walk around in groups, discussing and writing their responses. This allows for movement and varied interaction.

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Decades of research (Wright, 2016), and the experience of millions of educators, make one thing abundantly clear about the modern classroom: students need to talk about their learning. Engaging students in small-group, academic conversations is one of the most effective ways to:

enhance comprehension

reduce misbehavior

build academic language proficiency

support literacy

develop socioemotional skills

promote question-asking and deep thinking, and

create a sense of community within the classroom

So why don't all lessons have all students talking about their learning, all the time? Unfortunately, asking students to "turn and talk" to their partners has proven frustrating for many educators, who see students not talking, or students talking about non-academic subjects, or gregarious students dominating conversations while shier students are voiceless.

As a teacher, I had all of these frustrations, too. I gave my students the opportunity to talk about their learning, but I wouldn't see them doing it-at least not the majority of my students. When I asked them why they weren't talking, I heard a variety of responses, which I dismissed as excuses at the time:

"I don't want to go first."

"I don't know what the question is asking, sir."

"I didn't learn this."

"I don't even know what we're supposed to be doing."

I knew that students engaging in new activities tend to thrive with more structure, but I wasn't sure what structure I could add to these conversations.

And then I came across QSSSA.

The Question, Signal, Stem, Share, Assess routine was first introduced in 7 Steps to a Language-Rich, Interactive Classroomby Seidlitz and Perryman in 2011, and has since taken modern classrooms across the nation by storm (as evidence, try an image search of QSSSA). Research has shown that regularly using QSSSA results in enhanced participation and enthusiasm from students (Seidlitz et al., 2024). QSSSA is so effective because it provides exactly that structure I was looking for in my classroom. Students feel safe and confident in the QSSSA process and are intuitively engaged in participation. In all content areas and at all grade levels, it is one of the most versatile, effective tools in the teacher toolkit, and can be used any time you want to have students participate in structured conversations using academic language.
A Routine for Academic Language Development
Each step of the QSSSA routine was deliberately designed to help students develop academic language, first by reducing the affective filter, and second by providing supports that encourage students to use academic language. Here is how to implement each step of the routine.

For a deeper dive, QSSSA: The Essential Method for Structuring Conversations in All Classrooms is now available from Seidlitz Education!

1. Question. First, pose an open-ended question. Rather than a closed-ended, recall-based question that can probably be answered in one word, plan out a question that can be answered correctly in multiple ways and requires some elaboration. Some examples:

What do you think was the most important technological innovation of the Tang dynasty?

How are quadrilaterals different from other polygons?

How is condensation related to precipitation?

How did the author convey the theme of betrayal?

How do converging lines create perspective in paintings?

2. Signal. Ask students to make some kind of gesture-raise their hands, put their fists on their chins, stand up, or put their hands flat on the desk, for example-and instruct them to show that they are ready to answer the question by undoing the gesture (sitting down, or lowering their hands, e.g.). This gives students exactly as much think time as they need (especially when cueing students to a resource), and the kinesthetic nature of the gesture activates their thinking. The signal is, in my opinion, the most important part of the process, because it ensures total participation and communicates to students that everyone's voice matters.

3. Stem. Provide a sentence stem that is appropriate for students' levels of target language proficiency. This might mean a rewording of the question for learners who are fluent or nearly fluent in the target language ("Condensation is related to precipitation because...") or a simplification of the required language for beginner-level emergent bilingual students ("I notice that converging lines...").

4. Share. Have students share their answers to the question using the sentence stem, with partners or in small groups. Importantly, specify clearly with whom they'll be sharing their response: their elbow partner, their table group, or maybe another designated "away" partner in the room. Equally important: specify which student will share first, using a random indicator. Some examples of which student in each group might share first:

The student with the brightest shirt

The student with the darkest shirt

The student closest to the door

The student closest to the window

The student whose name comes first alphabetically

The student whose name comes last alphabetically

The oldest student in the group

The youngest student in the group

5. Assess. Lastly, ask students to share in the whole group. Having a randomization system (such as drawing from popsicle sticks or index cards with students' names or a digital wheel of names) is the most effective way to do this, especially when used regularly, because students are more attuned to their conversations as a way to prepare to be called on. Alternatively, teachers can equitably assess students by calling on one student from each group, or by having all students write down a response. Assessment strategies such as these help ensure student engagement throughout the entire activity, since students know they will be held accountable for their learning by the end of the activity. Assessing equitably and holding students accountable for their learning are so important because they communicate to the class that every student's voice matters, and we are all equally invested in our learning.

A Structure for Equity and Inclusion
QSSSA was designed to develop students' academic language and to engage all students in learning by addressing students' academic, linguistic, and affective needs. In doing this, it has an even more profound effect on the classroom. When all students feel confident and included in instruction, the classroom becomes a community in which they feel safe, valued, and seen.

Ready to Bring QSSSA to Your Classroom or Campus?

Our much anticipated book, QSSSA: The Essential Method for Structuring Conversations in All Classrooms is now available! Join us for one of our upcoming workshops in three cities across Texas! (Every attendee will receive one copy of the book.)

Can't make any of the launch events? Purchase your copies on Amazon or directly from Seidlitz Education.

Seidlitz, J., Rogers, M., & Lara, M. (2024). QSSSA: The essential method for structuring conversations in all classrooms. Seidlitz Education.

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QSSSA: The Secret Ingredient to Language-Rich, Interactive Classrooms

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by Stephen Fleenor, PhD Decades of research (Wright, 2016), and the experience of millions of educators, make one thing abundantly clear about the modern classroom: students need to talk about their learning. Engaging students in small-group, academic conversations is one of the most effective ways to: enhance comprehension reduce misbehavior build academic language proficiency support...

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Type: Partners

What you will need for QSSSA

1. Question(s) and Sentence Stem(s)

2. (Optional) Note Taking Paper for Yourself

Overview of QSSSA

The QSSSA stands for:

Q: Question - Give students a question to discuss.

S: Stem - Provide them with a sentence stem to answer the question.

S: Signal - Students think of an answer individually and signal when they are ready.

S: Share - Students get with a partner to share answers.

A: Assess - You randomly call on a few students to share their answers and/or walk around and listen in to their conversations.

How to organize QSSSA

Question:

This activity works with any topic. You just need a topic-related, open-ended question for students to discuss.
Examples:
What are two things you learned from the passage?

What did you do last weekend?

What do you not understand about earth's layers?

Stem:

After giving students the question(s) you want them to discuss. You then provide them with a sentence stem(s) to answer the question. i.e. In the passage, I learned that... Last weekend, I... I don't understand...

Signal:

You then give students time to think of the answer they want to share. When students are ready, they signal to the teacher with some sort of hand gesture or pose. i.e. thumbs up, muscle flex, light bulb "I have an idea" pose with one finger in the air and happy expression. If some students are ready quickly while others are still thinking, you can have those waiting students write their answer with their finger in the air.

Share:

When all students are ready, students get with a partner and share the answer(s) they thought of.

Assess:

You can assess students by having a few volunteers share their answers and/or you can walk around the class while students are discussing and attend to how students are using the language. You can take notes so that you remember any issues you would like to come back to work on more later. You can also ask students to write a response.

More Examples of QSSSA

Main Characters in a Story

Who are the main characters in the story? Why are they important? | The main characters in the story are... They are important because... | Raise your hand when you can finish the sentence.

Earthquakes

Why do earthquakes happen? | Earthquakes happen because... | Stand up when you can finish the sentence.

Tops and Bottoms Story

Do you think the rabbit in Tops in Bottoms was right to do what he did to the bear? | I think the rabbit was... He should have... He shouldn't have... | Do five jumping jacks when you can finish the sentence.

Benefits of QSSSA

This activity requires no preparation.

Students get an opportunity to verbalize what they are learning which helps solidify target vocabulary and sentence structures.

Everyone student is participating and few students are waiting around.

Check out this article by Valentina Gonzalez on how to organize this activity. You can also read this article by Katie Toppel on Culturally Responsive Communication where she recommends this activity in the context of being culturally sensitive when setting up speaking activities.

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QSSSA - Better Conversation Practice for Your ELLs

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Type: Partners Question(s) and Sentence Stem(s) (Optional) Note Taking Paper for Yourself The QSSSA stands for: Q: Question - Give students a question to discuss. S: Stem - Provide them with a sentence stem to answer the question. S: Signal - Students think of an answer individually and signal when they are ready.

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Language is one of the most powerful tools available to teachers. We can use language to stretch children’s curiosity, reasoning ability, creativity, and independence. One effective way to do this is by asking open-ended questions—those with no single right or wrong answer. Instead of predictable an…

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Walsh Workshop Wednesday - Lesson Idea - QSSSA