A strive for 5 conversation is a turn-taking approach that involves at least five exchanges between an adult and a child (or multiple children). While casual conversations often end after three turns (adult question, child answer, adult praise), the strive for 5 approach encourages adults to “stretch” the conversation to include two more turns, promoting more elaborate responses and sustained dialogue.
These conversations are crucial for children's development because they:
- Promote Oral Language Development: They are essential for language comprehension and, ultimately, reading comprehension.
- Expand Vocabulary: Adults intentionally use a wide vocabulary, including both familiar and more sophisticated words, and children practice using new words in meaningful contexts.
- Build Knowledge: Multiple feedback loops in these conversations lead to language practice, vocabulary development, and knowledge building.
- Develop Social Skills: Important social skills such as making eye contact, taking turns, watching, waiting, listening, and responding are central to the interaction.
- Foster Deeper Thinking: Adults scaffold children’s responses and encourage them to explain their thinking or ideas.
- Support Confidence: Providing time to think and respond encourages confidence and richer conversations.
The pattern of a strive for 5 conversation typically includes five turns:
- Educator Question
- Child Response
- Educator Follow-Up Question. This is where the “stretch” often occurs. The adult watches, waits, and listens with interest, then asks a follow-up question to encourage a more complete answer or to elaborate on or expand the child”s ideas.
- Child Response
- Educator Comment
Strive for 5 conversations can be integrated into various parts of the day, making them a natural and consistent part of the learning environment. They can occur:
- During play-based interactions
- During read-aloud experiences, particularly during Days 2 and 3 of the repeated read-aloud lessons (often through Think, Pair, Share)
- In small-group time
- During instructional time, such as Targeted Vocabulary Instruction
- Informally throughout the day, like at play centers, lunch, or on the playground
- With family members during daily routines like walking, shopping, or mealtimes
To make these conversations robust and meaningful, SEEDS educators use several strategies:
- Open-Ended Questions: These questions usually start with adverbs like what, when, where, or why; cannot be answered by a single word; and show curiosity about the child’s thoughts. Examples include: What can you tell me about your favorite color? Why do you think the character . . . ? How do you think your friend felt when . . . ?
- Prompts: Ask more about something a child has said, join in play and inquire about what the child is doing, or prompt the child to tell you about an activity they are focused on.
- Scaffolding: The adult can increase the challenge by asking the child to explain their thinking, extending their idea, or encouraging them to consider alternatives. If a child needs more support, the adult can simplify the question, offer a sentence frame, or model an answer and then re-ask the question.