In Defense of Turn and Talk: Every strategy has its “Yes, buts”. Don’t lose sight of its “Yes, ands.”

Like a lot of strategies we use as teachers, there’s a teaching move that’s so common we often use without thinking much about it: “Turn and Talk.”

It’s quick, familiar, and gets everyone participating. But like any classroom strategy, it can become a poor proxy for learning which is something that looks productive on the surface but doesn’t actually strengthen memory or understanding beneath it.

A poor proxy for learning is anything that gives the appearance of learning without the substance of it. Students might look busy, engaged, and talkative, but unless that activity is making them retrieve, rehearse, or reason with knowledge, their long-term memory isn’t changing, and learning hasn’t really happened.

That’s a risk with Turn and Talk as it is with any other strategy. I am here to tell you shouldn’t let the “Yes, but…” crowd turn you off of a strategy because of the “buts.” If we avoided everything with a few “buts,” we would never teach anything. In other words, be a “Yes, and…” person instead of always focusing on the “Yes, buts…”.

When used without purpose, it can become a moment of noise, not knowledge. But when grounded in cognitive science and used with an evidence-based intent, Turn and Talk becomes one of the most powerful ways to get every student thinking, retrieving, and remembering.

Let’s look at what’s happening in the brain during a Turn and Talk and how I make this routine one of the most effective moments of learning in my classroom despite all the “buts”.

What Turn and Talk Really Does

When we ask students to turn and talk with a clear how and why, we’re doing more than encouraging participation. We’re inviting every student to retrieve, rehearse, and elaborate on what they just learned.

Here’s a simple example from a FASE reading lesson I recently taught on rural depopulation in Japan:

Turn and Talk: “Why do young people choose to leave rural towns for the cities?”

At that moment, every student is searching their memory for relevant details, rural depopulation, lack of jobs, schools closing, and then organizing that information into a coherent explanation. That’s retrieval and elaboration in action. Students aren’t just talking; they’re thinking out loud, reinforcing their understanding, and giving their brains another chance to encode what they’ve just read.

The Cognitive Science Behind It

Cognitive science gives us several clear explanations for why Turn and Talk works so well:

1. Retrieval Practice

Every time a student recalls information from memory, instead of rereading or re-listening, they strengthen that knowledge. Retrieval practice makes memories more durable and easier to access later.

When a student says, “Young people leave because there are more jobs in cities,” they’re retrieving key information from their memory. When they add, “That creates problems because there are fewer workers left behind,” they’re elaborating and connecting ideas which are powerful for long-term retention.

2. Elaboration

Elaboration is what happens when students explain ideas in their own words or connect new information to what they already know.

Turn and Talk can help do this. Another example Turn and Talk prompt from my lesson on rural depopulation: “Why do healthcare services become harder to provide when rural areas lose population?” requires students to connect several ideas: fewer workers, aging population, increased healthcare needs.

This act of verbal reasoning deepens understanding and helps students store the knowledge in more meaningful, accessible ways.

3. Encoding

When students restate information aloud, they create new retrieval cues. The brain now links that knowledge to more contexts: hearing it, saying it, hearing someone else say it. This encoding improves recall later because there are more pathways back to that memory.

Every time students explain an idea slightly differently, they’re strengthening the web of understanding that makes future retrieval easier.

4. Cognitive Load

Turn and Talk also supports cognitive offloading. When students encounter new or complex material, it can be difficult to hold and process everything in working memory at once. By discussing with a partner, students temporarily offload some of that mental work onto the social interaction. This gives them space to rehearse, clarify, and refine their thinking before retrieving and applying the information on their own.

This is why a Turn and Talk right after reading a portion of a knowledge-rich text is so effective: students offload and organize their thoughts collaboratively, making it easier to understand and remember the material as they continue.

From Conversation to Memory: Structuring the Routine

The difference between a busy chat and a powerful Turn and Talk is all in the structure and routine. Not just the what, but the how and why must be crystal clear to the teacher and the students. Here’s how I make it a true learning routine which has been practiced extensively and reinforced continuously. This is where we eliminate most, but not all, the “buts.” PSA: You can never avoid all the “buts” of a strategy. Do it anyway. Teaching is not a zero sum game. Good teaching isn’t about choosing either/or, but combining yes/and.

1. Use Thoughtful Prompts

Prompts should require reasoning, not just recall. You want students retrieving and explaining. Think “how” and “why” questions. Even better is to present students with a fact to discuss and prove to be true.

Compare:

•  “What problems does rural depopulation create for a community?” (basic recall)

• “Why does rural depopulation create many problems for a community?” (retrieval + reasoning)

• Rural depopulation creates problems for rural communities. Prove it to be true. (retrieval+reasoning+elaboration)

In the rural depopulation in Japan lesson, Turn and Talk prompts like “Why did the government focuses on young families?” and “How does supporting farmers and small businesses help a town grow again?” require students to connect inputs and outputs. It is all about deep thinking that makes knowledge stick.

2. Keep It Brief but Accountable

Give students clear expectations:

• Ask the question and point to your temple to signal we are not ready to talk yet.

• Pause. Allow students time to think and mentally rehearse their response to the question.

• Countdown 3, 2, 1, go! Snap your fingers.

• Talk ignites and spreads like a wildfire.

• 30–40 seconds each.

• Partner A goes first, Partner B builds or responds.

• Then switch.

This prevents wandering conversation and ensures every student participates. When time’s up, signal a clear return to attention. I again count down “3, 2, 1”  then immediately move into cold calling. Consistency makes Turn and Talk a reliable rhythm, not a side detour.

3. Follow with Cold Calling

This is where the learning deepens. After the Turn and Talk, cold call a few students to share what they and their partner said.

“Let’s hear what you and your partner discussed: why does rural depopulation make healthcare harder to provide?”

Cold calling after a Turn and Talk serves two cognitive purposes:

1. It keeps everyone accountable during discussion (because anyone might be called on).

2. It adds a layer of spaced retrieval. Students recall the idea once with a partner and again when hearing or articulating it publicly.

It’s retrieval, spaced out by a few minutes, a small but powerful form of strengthening memory.

4. Rehearsal for Expression and Writing

Turn and Talk also serves as rehearsal for expressing new ideas, both verbally and in writing. When students talk through a complex idea first, their writing immediately becomes clearer and more confident. For example:

After discussing “Why might businesses close as the rural population goes down?”, students then write a short cause-and-effect explanation on their mini-whiteboard:

“As fewer people live in rural towns, there are fewer customers and workers, which causes many local businesses to close.”

The oral rehearsal acts as a bridge between comprehension and production which is a critical step in embedding knowledge for the long term.

A Routine in Action

Here’s what this looked like as a full cognitive sequence in my lesson, using the “Rural Depopulation in Japan” FASE reading:

1. Read and Process: FASE read a short section about younger populations leaving rural areas for the cities in Japan.

2. Turn and Talk: “Why do young people choose to leave rural towns for the cities?”

3. Cold Call: A few students share their partner’s response.

4. Check for Understanding: “List on your mini-whiteboard three reasons why young populations tend to leave rural areas for the cities.”

5. Check and Clarify: “I see many of you listed job opportunities and education. Yes, those are key reasons. I also see many missed the idea of lifestyle differences.

6. Turn and Talk: “What lifestyle differences between rural and urban areas may attract young people to move to cities?”

7. Cold Call: A few students share their partner’s response.

8. Check for Understanding: “Now write on your mini-whiteboard two lifestyle differences between rural areas and cities that would attract young people to cities.”

9. Turn and Talk: “Explain to your partner what you think is the main reason cities are attractive to young people. Revise your MWB response if necessary.”

10. Check and Clarify: “I see most of you caught ideas like entertainment options and cultural experiences. Excellent.”

11. Continue FASE: “Emma, please pick up reading where it says, ‘While Japan’s big cities like Tokyo and Osaka keep growing…”

Notice how this routine builds in retrieval, reasoning, rehearsal, elaboration, feedback, and encoding at multiple stages. Every student is thinking, retrieving, rehearsing and verbalizing and not just listening to someone else’s answer.

Making Thinking Visible

What makes Turn and Talk so valuable is that it transforms private thinking into public rehearsal.

Students often appear silent and compliant during reading or note-taking, but we don’t know what’s happening cognitively. Turn and Talk brings that thinking to the surface, giving every student a low-stakes opportunity to process and refine ideas before being asked to share or write.

As Daniel Willingham reminds us, “Memory is the residue of thought.”

If students aren’t thinking, they aren’t remembering. Turn and Talk helps ensure that all students are actively thinking and not just a few who raise their hands.

Turn and Talk: “Yes, and…”

When used well, Turn and Talk is far more than a “Yes, but…” strategy. It’s a moment where talk becomes thought, and thought becomes memory. It’s where cognitive science meets classroom rhythm: retrieval through conversation, rehearsal through explanation, encoding through elaboration. In this way, I view it as a “Yes, and…” strategy. I guess I’m more of a glass half full person. No strategy is a full glass. We fill it up as much as we can. That’s teaching in nut shell. A teacher who refuses to use a strategy because of a few “buts” and chooses another strategy they believe they can eliminate all of “buts” is focusing on control instead of impact. They are chasing an illusion. Yes, teaching is full of “buts” AND I wouldn’t have it any other way.