♦ Gently focus children on aspects of purposeful talk behavior.
♦ Authentically facilitate as children engage with ideas and with each other.
♦ Clearly offer feedback that links purposeful talk behaviors to the process of constructing meaning.
When we teach into purposeful talk in this way, we wrap our support around children's process. This support helps children understand the purpose and power of their own talk and builds an agentive stance toward talk.
The key to meeting the challenges of dynamic, improvisational teaching is making focus, facilitate, and feedback a familiar cycle. Let’s explore each step of this process now...
Knowing that all learning floats on a sea of talk, focusing children on talk behaviors can and should happen throughout each day, every day. Basically, any time children are talking with each other, you have an opportunity to help them get better at using their talk behaviors more purposefully.
Facilitation of talk differs from traditional, teacher driven instruction as it does not attempt to corral children’s process or funnel their thinking. Rather, facilitating means letting go of scripted lessons and questions, and making space for children to engage in an honest flow of talk and meaning making.
In the dialogic classroom, feedback spurs reflection, and helps children become aware of the depth and breadth of meaning they constructed and the role of purposeful talk in the process. It focuses on highlighting children’s strategic behavior and, through this, creates learning identities.
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This blog has been adapted from Building Bigger Ideas. To learn more, visit Heinemann.com
Maria is the author of Comprehension Through Conversation andBuilding Bigger Ideas.
You can follow Maria on Twitter @marianichols45