DOCUMENT RESUME ED 435 098 CS 216 919 AUTHOR Lindfors, Judith Wells, Ed.; Townsend, Jane S., Ed. TITLE Teaching Language Arts: Learning through Dialogue. INSTITUTION National Council of Teachers of English, Urbana, IL. ISBN ISBN-0-8141-5035-7 PUB DATE 1999-00-00 NOTE 342p. AVAILABLE FROM National Council of Teachers of English, 1111 W. Kenyon Road, Urbana, IL 61801-1096 (Stock No. 50357: $22.95 members, $29.95 nonmembers). Tel: 877-369-6283 (Toll Free). PUB TYPE Books (010) Collected Works General (020) EDRS PRICE MF01/PC14 Plus Postage. DESCRIPTORS Case Studies; Classroom Techniques; Elementary Education; *Language Arts; *Student Development; *Student Needs; *Teacher Role; Teaching Methods IDENTIFIERS Dialogic Communication; Learning Environments; New Teachers; Response to Literature ABSTRACT Offering an alternative to traditional language arts methods textbooks, this collection of 20 essays by master teachers is grouped into 4 main sections. Following an introduction, essays in the book are: (1) "Walter" (Vivian Gussin Paley); (2) "Children Become Writers: A Conversation with Two Teachers" (Cyndy Hoffman and Carol E. Sharp); (3) "Putting Ourselves on the Line" (Pat McLure and Linda Rief); (4) "Rethinking Literature Discussions" (Penny Silvers); (5) "Story Time as a Magical Act Open Only to the Initiated: What Some Children Don't Know about Power and May Not Find Out" (Karen Gallas); (6) "Stepping Stones: Literature in the Classroom" (Cecilia Espinosa and Julia Fournier); (7) "Inquiry in the Kindergarten" (Patti Seifert); (8) "Finding Our Way: A Year of Learning with Maps" (Mary Kenner Glover); (9) "Fueled by Surprise" (Phyllis Whitin);(10) "Getting Real with Students" (Mary M. Kitagawa); (11) "'I Can Hear You Thinking': Talking and Learning in a Multiage Classroom" (Kathryn Mitchell Pierce);(12) "Letters Home"- (Rebecca King);(13) "Ownership for the Special Needs Child: Individual and Educational Dilemmas" (Cora Lee Five);(14) "Time on Our Side" (Mary Mercer Krogness); (15)"The Teacher as Listener" (Dorothy M. Taylor); (16) "Building Common Ground" (Renee Bachman and Julia Fournier); (17) "Communicating with Parents: One Teacher's Story" (Lynne Yermanock Strieb); (18) "On the Road to Cultural Bias: A Critique of 'The Oregon Trail' CD-ROM" (Bill Bigelow);(19) "Leaving My Thumbprint: The Journey of a First-Year Teacher" (Abigail Foss); and (20)"An Open Letter from a Principal to New Teachers" (Fredrick R. Burton). Two appendixes group the essays by theme and activity. (Each essay contains references.) (NKA) Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. TEACHING LANGUAGE ARTS _a_rn_ino throw'' Dia looueedited by Judith Wells Lindfors and Jane S. Townsend ,1111* U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION Office of Educational Research and Improvement PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE AND EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION DISSEMINATE THIS MATERIAL HAS CENTER (ERIC) BEEN GRANTED BY This document has been reproduced as received from the person or organization originating it. Minor changes have been made to improve reproduction quality. BEST COPYAVAILABLE 0Points of view or opinions stated in this TOTHE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES document do not necessarily represent INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC) official OERI positior. or policy. 2 Teaching Language Arts 3 NCTE Editorial Board: Jacqueline Bryant, Kermit Campbell, Bobbi Fisher, Xin Liu Gale, Sarah Hudelson, Bill McBride, Gerald R. Og lan, Helen Poole, Karen Smith, ex officio, Peter Feely, ex officio 4 Teaching Language Arts Learning through Dialogue Edited by Judith Wells Lindfors The University of Texas at Austin Jane S. Townsend University of Florida National Council of Teachers of English 1111 W. Kenyon Road, Urbana, Illinois 61801-1096 Production Editor: Kurt Austin Cover Design and Prepress Services: Precision Graphics Cover Photographs © Elizabeth Crews NCTE Stock Number: 50357-3050 © 1999 by the National Council of Teachers of English. All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. It is the policy of NCTE in its journals and other publications to provide a forum for the open discussion of ideas concerning the content and the teach- ing of English and the language arts. Publicity accorded to any particular point of view does not imply endorsement by the Executive Committee, the Board of Directors, or the membership at large, except in announcements of policy, where such endorsement is clearly specified. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Teaching language arts : learning through dialogue / edited by Judith Wells Lindfors, Jane S. Townsend. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-8141-5035-7 (paper) 1. Language artsUnited States Case studies.2. English languageStudy and teachingActivity programs Case studies. I. Lindfors, Judith Wells.II. Townsend, Jane S.III. National Council of Teachers of English. LB1576.T3781999 372.6'044dc21 99-35050 CIP 6 Contents Acknowledgment vii Introduction ix 1. Walter 1 Vivian Gussin Paley I. Using Language to Create and Imagine 5 2. Children Become Writers: A Conversation with Two Teachers 7 Cyndy Hoffman and Carol E. Sharp 3. Putting Ourselves on the Line 30 Pat Mc Lure and Linda Rief 4. Rethinking Literature Discussions 51 Penny Silvers 5. Story Time as a Magical Act Open Only to the Initiated: What Some Children Don't Know about Power and May Not Find Out 70 Karen Gallas 6. Stepping Stones: Literature in the Classroom 84 Cecilia Espinosa and Julia Fournier II. Using Language to Explore the World 101 7. Inquiry in the Kindergarten 103 Patti Seifert 8. Finding Our Way: A Year of Learning with Maps 119 Mary Kenner Glover 9. Fueled by Surprise 135 Phyllis Whitin 10. Getting Real with Students 146 Mary M. Kitagawa 7 vi Teaching Language Arts 11. "I Can Hear You Thinking": Talking and Learning in a Multiage Classroom 157 Kathryn Mitchell Pierce 12. Letters Home 172 Rebecca King III. Using Language to Connect with Others 183 13. Ownership for the Special Needs Child: Individual and Educational Dilemmas 187 Cora Lee Five 14. Time on Our Side 205 Mary Mercer Krogness 15. The Teacher as Listener 222 Dorothy M. Taylor 16. Building Common Ground 233 Renee Bachman and Julia Fournier 17. Communicating with Parents: One Teacher's Story 251 Lynne Yermanock Strieb 18. On the Road to Cultural Bias: A Critique of The Oregon Trail CD-ROM 275 Bill Bigelow IV. As You Begin... 293 19. Leaving My Thumbprint: The Journey of a First-Year Teacher 295 Abigail Foss 20. An Open Letter From a Principal to New Teachers 303 Fredrick R. Burton Appendix A: Themes 311 Appendix B: Activities 315 Index 321 Editors 327 Contributors 329 vii Acknowledgment We are more deeply grateful to Olivia Becerra than our words can say. Her computer expertise, her attention to detail, her organizational skill, and her unfailing good humor were all essential in making this book a reality. ix Introduction As students move through their teacher education programs toward K-8 certification, they typically march through one methods text after another: reading, social studies, science, math. And language arts. We thought it would be helpful to provide a different approach for a language arts methods course.* Why not ask excellent classroom teachers to tell about language arts in their classrooms, thereby invit- ing readers into a professional dialogue? In contrast to many tradi- tional language arts methods texts, in which a single author speaks, we wanted a collection in which many experienced teachersall with dif- ferent perspectivestalk with the reader. And so we asked experi- enced teachers to write about some aspect of language arts in their own classrooms. This book is their response to our request. Their voices are dialogic: These teacher-authors do not lecture. As you read, you will not hear all-knowing voices of authorities speaking to you from some lofty height; you will hear co-learner voices of experienced teachers dialoguing with you. And they are honest voices. They write of successes and failures. They tell of ups and downs. They share what is easy for them and also what is difficult. They question; they reflect. These teachers do not provide sets of "listening activities" or lists of "tips for teaching spelling." Instead, they describe the richly textured fabric of classrooms in which language weaves its way through all the daily experiences of the members of these communi- ties. Yes, the students in these classrooms listen. How else could they enjoy stories read aloud or respond to a peer's proposed solution to a math problem? And yes, the students in these classrooms spell. How else could they write the stories and research reports, the poems and memos they want others to read? But the listening and the spelling do not occur as exercises; they occur within communication events. We hope you will engage in vigorous dialogue with these teacher-authors. The purpose is not to receive "gems of wisdom" from *As we have worked on this book, we have come to appreciate its value for inservice as well as preservice teachers. 10 x Teaching Language Arts them as you read, but rather to interact with them: to question, to won- der, to reflect, to evaluate, to imagine, and above all, to relate the class- rooms you read about to your own current or anticipated one. How might you modify the classroom experiences these teach- ers tell of to be effective in your classroom with your students? How might you adapt the Explorers Club Patti Seifert does with her kindergartners for your fifth graders? Lynne Strieb sends newsletters home to her first and second graders' parents regularly, thanking them for their participa- tion in classroom activities and informing them of classroom events. How might you write such newsletters so that they would be appropriate for the ESL (English as a second lan- guage) children in your sixth-grade classroom? How might you incorporate Hispanic/Latino literature (Cecilia Espinosa and Julia Fournier) in your monolingual English third-grade classroom? Pat Mc Lure describes Writing Workshop conferences with her first and second graders, and Linda Rief tells about her seventh and eighth graders' writing portfolios.