Dialogue as Curriculum

In the Reader's Workshop classroom, much of the knowledge is self-constructed. The teacher's role is to teach explicitly and with passion, and then to pull back-- guide, facilitate, and marvel. All of us know how to do the first part- it's why we become teachers. But the second part- the part where we hand the reigns to the children, requires that we let dialogue between kids take center stage.

In order to do this, we need to think about what kinds of things children need to know to talk well. We can do this by listing the things we notice about adult conversations and teaching those behaviors to children. Behaviors such as leaning in to the speaker, rephrasing, disagreeing respectfully, knowing when someone is finished talking, and many more are paramount in a RW classroom. For more, read...

Yak yak yak- Structures for Talking in Class

Loosely tied to the idea of talk:
Spontaneous Book Clubs
What makes a good reading response?