Choice Words: How Our Language Affects Children's LearningIn productive classrooms, teachers don't just teach students math and reading skills; they build emotionally and relationally healthy learning communities. Teachers create intellectual environments that produce not only technically competent students, but also caring, secure, actively literate human beings. Choice Words: How Our Language Affects Children's Learning shows how teachers can accomplish this by using their most powerful teaching tool: language.Throughout this book, author Peter Johnston provides examples of seemingly ordinary words, phrases, and uses of language that are pivotal in the orchestration of the classroom. Grounded in a study by accomplished literacy teachers, the book demonstrates how and what we say (and don't say) have surprising consequences for what children learn and for who they become as literate people. Students learn how to become strategic thinkers, not merely learning the literacy strategies, but adapting them to their lives outside of the classroom.In addition, Johnston examines the complex learning that teachers produce in classrooms that is hard to name and thus is not recognized by tests, by policy-makers, by the general public, and often by teachers themselves, yet is vitally important. This book will be enlightening for any teacher who wishes to be more conscious of the many ways their language helps children acquire literacy skills and view the world, their peers, and themselves in new ways. |
Contents
Noticing and Naming | 11 |
Flexibility and Transfer or Generalizing | 43 |
An Evolutionary Democratic Learning | 64 |
Copyright | |
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Choice Words: How Our Language Affects Children's Learning Peter H. Johnston No preview available - 2024 |
Common terms and phrases
ability accomplish actions activity actually agency agentive answer aspects assume attention authority become better building called Carl chapter character child choice classroom context conversation critical cultural discussion drawing effect engage example expect experience explicit feelings figure give goals going happens ideas identity imagine important individual instruction intellectual interactions interesting invitation Johnston kind knowledge language learning less literacy literate lives look Mary means naming narrative nature normal notice observes offers opens particular person piece position possible powerful practice problem productive question reader relation relationships requires response role sense sense of agency shows situations social solve sort sources stories strategies successful talk teacher teaching tell things thought tions turns understand writing