Talk About Thinking
Rethinking our Discourse with Children

In the 2004 Cornerstone regional meetings (By the time of this article, the Southern Regional will be a happy memory), many of the discussions will focus on the interactions of children with each other and their teachers and the degree to which the most precise and powerful oral language can be used. We'll discuss ways to raise expectations for children in their spoken interactions and ways we can revise our talk with them to demonstrate the best possible models. Lu Lewis will share developmental milestones for young children and will foster discussion of what can be done when they have not been reached.

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By Amy McCain, Cornerstone Coach

Shh! Do you hear something? Listen carefully. It's the sound of students reading, writing, communicating… and the buzz throughout the school is all about the same book. Now, picture a group of fifth grade girls leading a cheer about the book during a reading pep rally. "Read Stone Fox!" reverberates off the auditorium walls. Visualize two first graders discussing the text along with two third graders as their classes hold a cross-grade book club meeting. Imagine students planning together how to best organize and display their summary of the story. This mental image you're creating is one of French Elementary's very first school-wide book study, our "One School, One Book" campaign that we've been engaged in for the last six weeks.

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