Promoting Conversations

Conversations are all around us. They started the day we were born and they have propelled us to use language and grow our language skills. That is why I chose to focus my post on that section of chapter four. Many people believe that elementary students are too young to hold long book discussions or think deeply about a text. If I child can hold a conversations they can hold a conversation about a book. Teachers need to start using more forms of conversations in their classrooms.

            Try to think back to a time when you were in school and a teacher “shushed” you when you were asking a fellow classmate a question about academics. Even though you were probably asking this question in at an inappropriate time teachers should not always shut down these conversations. It seems like today teachers are focusing on worksheets or tests instead of conversations. These worksheets take very low levels of critical thinking and do not further a child’s critical thinking skills. Since conversations are such a crucial part of language development why are so many schools not using in their everyday classrooms? The book pointed out a few ways to incorporate conversations into the lessons: small-group conversations with the teacher, formal conversations without the teacher, inform conversations without the teacher.

During small-group conversations teachers are only there to help redirect conversations and they should follow the same rules as the children. Formal conversations without the teacher can be tricky for a teacher to handle because the classroom can be come loud and seem out of control. An example of this is having literature circles where tall the teacher decided is the students in each group and what book each group will be. It is up to the students to pick the number of pages that they want to discuss and how the conversation is directed. This builds so many skills that the students may not develop will later in life. Educators may use this activity to promote comprehension, as well as vocabulary skills. Literature circles may also benefit students who lack confidence in their reading skills as they allow them to have peer support to comprehend the material read. But most important of all: English language learners (ELLs) are included in literature circles and they have the opportunity to interact with English proficient students as they model appropriate language skills. Informal conversations with out the teacher may not be the conversation that are seen in the classroom as much but they are seen during free-play periods, center time, or outdoor play/recess. Even thought these conversations may not be “academic” they are still a very important part of building social skills in school.

As a teacher do not feel like you have to have complete control of your classroom all the time because you may not be allowing you students to create conversations that will increase their critical thinking skills. These discussions can also lead to topics and ideas that far exceed anything that you could have prepared.