Ginger I can't resist jumping in here... When you explictly teach children how to listen to each other and how to respond to each other you are setting up the climate for intellectual engagement that Ellin describes so eloquently in To Understand. Ellin describes the conditions needed for understanding and one of them is conversation with others. I teach "turn and talk" in a similar fashion...I think I learned how from a previous post and also from the Comprehension Toolkit....which is a really good resource for newbies by the way! I plan to take this one simple but important step further next fall and integrate in my modeling some time to think. I will directly talk to the kids about the importance of silence and time to think as well as the time to converse with others. we'll talk specifically about what we understand AFTER some time to think and turn and talk that we didn't understand without doing those things. I will be making an anchor Chart showing not just what the literacy time should look like and sound like but a second chart with showing what we learn about understanding. SOOO glad to have you back on the listserv... Jennifer In a message dated 7/10/2008 11:35:16 A.M. Eastern Daylight Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes:
I teach my new group active listening first. It is a strong piece of the foundation of engagement for the year. I talk to them about how I'm sure they are so used to having to face the teacher when he/she is teaching but that now they are going to be turning their bodies and eyes to whomever it is that is speaking in the room. So I walked around the outside of the circle and asked them to show me what it would look like if they were doing Active Listening "on me" over here. They all rotated their bodies and faced me. Then I pointed to someone sitting over there on the carpet (say John) and said if we pretended he was sharing HIS thinking next how would it look to do Active Listening "on John". (I know that is not correct grammar but you'll see why I use it in a minute.) So they all rotated towards him. I walked over to where John was sitting and talked to them about how at first this will probably feel VERY uncomfortable because typically we are not used to having the entire class facing us when we are talking. But the reason we do it is because we all believe that what John has to say is VERY IMPORTANT and worthy of our respect. That we can learn from John's thinking. That maybe what John is about to share connects with something we were thinking. That RECEIVING the thinking of our classmates is a very important part of what we will be doing all year. In order to RECEIVE that thinking best it helps to face the person sharing. Then I walked back to the head of the group and reinforced those who turned their bodies and eyes on me as I walked. For those who did not I simply say "Active Listening on me now." "Eyes and bodies facing the speaker." "I'm the one sharing my thinking so you need to face me now." **************Get the scoop on last night's hottest shows and the live music scene in your area - Check out TourTracker.com! (http://www.tourtracker.com?NCID=aolmus00050000000112) _______________________________________________ Mosaic mailing list Mosaic@literacyworkshop.org To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/mosaic_literacyworkshop.org. Search the MOSAIC archives at http://snipurl.com/MosaicArchive.
