Chalk Talk
Silent group response to a question; everyone adds + connects.
Making connectionsWondering & questioningBuilding explanationsFacilitated
What is Chalk Talk?
Facilitator-led group routine. We support it as a single open prompt where everyone's responses appear together, read others' before adding.
Setup: Pose the question or problem.
The prompts
- 1Add an idea, a connection, or a questionRead what others have written before you add yours.
Good moments for Chalk Talk
- Classroom warm-upSurface what students bring before introducing new content.
- After a reading or videoConsolidate big ideas without testing recall.
- Discussion starterResponses become the seed material for the room conversation.
- End-of-session reflectionCapture how thinking changed.
About Visible Thinking
Visible Thinking Routines were developed by Project Zero at the Harvard Graduate School of Education (Ron Ritchhart, David Perkins). They are short structured protocols for surfacing thinking, not assessments.
Project Zero website