Choice Words: How Our Language Affects Children's Learning by Peter H. Johnston
The forward in this book is written by Richard Allington. As I talked about with my friend Katie, many times we skip the forward when we read books. But, in this case, the forward is well worth the read. Here are some ideas and thoughts from the forward:
- As much as 25 years ago (as per publishing of the book) there have been studies on how teachers used language differently when teaching reading, depending on who their audience was. Language teachers used with more successful readers focused on making meaning and they used more wait time.
- Analyzing this type of language often involves analyzing "non-explicit" talk that may be sometimes "infrequent."
- Allington says he observed language with Johnston, but he had no way of thinking about what he saw or heard that would allow him to notice what Peter noticed-- this is an interesting comment because it implied that we have to be "ready" in order to learn. Much like our students or other teachers receiving professional development- if we are not ready, if we do not have the framework, then the information (no matter how high quality) will go right over our heads. I really like the way Allington can talk about this because it can imply weakness- something he did not automatically "know." However, I think of it as more of a strength, like "I discovered this..."
- Allington says that reading this book gives us the opportunity to "move beyond" raising test scores and instead focus on how to "develop literate citizens for a democratic society." As a teacher, who can ignore that call to action?
