Category Archives: Oral Language

Feedback: Part of the Learning Dialogue Cycle

Here’s a link on feedback with a short excerpt:

http://inservice.ascd.org/teaching-students-to-give-and-receive-meaningful-feedback/

February 5, 2016 by Inservice Guest Blogger

Teaching Students to Give and Receive Meaningful Feedback By Kristin Vanderlip Taylor

“Feedback is essential to growth in learning—without it we might keep making the same mistakes or not know how to fix them. Teachers have the opportunity to provide purposeful feedback to students throughout learning experiences, not just as a summative evaluation. Feedback, though, doesn’t only need to come from teachers; peer critiques can also present valuable insight to students in a way that a teacher’s perspective might not. However, modeling questioning strategies and conversational practice are critical if we want our students to ask for and give feedback to each other that is meaningful and relevant, rather than superficial and disconnected….”

Ongoing Relevance of Dialogue

I think this excerpt from an article by Karen Gallas (Language Development: A Reader for Teachers) from my January 2015 post on Dialogue About Language, Literacy, and Learning is worth revisiting:

Early in the chapter, the authors note:

“Talk is an inherently social act. In classrooms, however, teachers generally corral language by defining when children talk, what they are supposed to talk about and for how long. We also have implicit rules governing how talk can be used across classroom activities, requiring students to crack these code, as it were, and develop a language kit of discourses to suit the needs of different contexts. But the school is a site of may discourses in contact including both those discourses that come from students’ cultural background—their out-of-school ways of talking, reasoning, and valuing—and the many specialized discourse that are a part of the academic domain.Math, science, social studies, art, gym, music, books studies, and writing workshops all stand as distinct discourse that children must master. But discourses, by definition are complexly situated, socially, culturally, and historically.” (p. 130) (Bold mine)

It is not clear why we consider “talking” such a natural ability. It seems there is much to learn about “talking” and how to help children develop the oral language skills necessary for school success, even as early as kindergarten. Gallas and her colleagues offer us many aspects of language development to consider:

The Power of Picture Books

Picture Books: Poetry in Motion

Here’s a brief excerpt from Reading Rockets:

July 6, 2015

“I’ve been thinking a lot about picture books and why some work and are memorable while others just land with a thud when read. I continue to ask myself what is it about those picture books that resonate with readers and particularly those that can be shared many times between adults and children, delighting both….”

http://www.readingrockets.org/blog/picture-books-poetry-motion?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+ReadingRockets_StrugglingRea ders+%28Reading+Rockets%3A+Struggling+Reader+Resources%29

Every Conversation Counts

From Too Small to Fail

Every Word, Every Conversation Counts: The Word Gap and Early Brain Development

A baby’s first words are cause for celebration. Language development is an exciting and critical part of every child’s growth. Starting the moment they’re born, children begin to build a rich foundation for language using every word they hear from the conversations and interactions they share with those who love and care for them. Parents and caregivers can help boost their child’s early brain development and language skills through simple actions like talking, reading, and singing—simply through their everyday moments in the everyday places they visit together. This week, Too Small to Fail announced three new Commitments to Action at the Clinton Global Initiative America meeting in Denver to help parents and families make any space and any time the perfect opportunity for talking, reading, and singing with their littlest learners.

http://us3.campaign-archive2.com/?u=a04df7717ef6c2a6ebb987d62&id=073fa6277a&e=100b970532