The verbal interaction between a laboratory school class of sixth/seventh grade students and their teacher during 18 social studies discussions was analyzed in order to identify teacher techniques relevant to student discourse and student passivity. Classroom discussions were taped, transcribed, and analyzed according to an adaptation of the Bellack system of "chess moves." These moves--structuring, soliciting, responding, and reacting--were used to note who spoke and when. Content of what each participant said was derived from a separate study of the data. The overall study indicated that students contributed more often than the teacher to discussion. The teacher moved the discussion along by reacting to students rather than by soliciting information from them. However, solicitation was the second most frequent move. While this experiment was conducted in a laboratory school of a college of education, the findings are relevant to conventional classroom teaching strategies. It is suggested that teachers may generate more student engagement by asking fewer questions and listening more closely to student comments. (LP)