All children like to be praised for things they are doing well. This can be a really good tool to employ to encourage children to use the skills you would like to develop. The children will feel motivated to use the skills you are praising others for.
Be careful not to fall into the trap of only praising things we can see easily such as ‘looking at the person who is talking’. Use the Oracy Framework to plan for oracy-specific praise. Check out the ideas below:
Physical – * Amazing, you were speaking at just the right volume for a trio. * Your body language showed me you were very open to others’ ideas.
Linguistic – * Great use of specialist vocabulary; you sounded like an expert! * All of the words you chose reinforced a sense of …
Cognitive – * It really helped me to understand your thinking when you used first, then, finally. * The example you gave was particularly powerful because …
Social and emotional – * Well done for inviting someone into the discussion. * I know you are listening really well because your body language and eye contact are showing me that.
(Transform Teaching and Learning Through Talk; Gaunt & Stott 2019)
