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

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 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 Classroom by 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.)

• March 6, San Antonio
• April 25, Houston 
• May 2, Dallas 

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.