Linking Related Literacy Ideas

According to Phyllis Whitin's article, The Interplay of Text, Talk, and Visual Representation in Expanding Literary Interpretation, "...Making collaborative sketches would give the children an opportunity to practice linking these literary ideas in the companhy of their peers"(Vygotsky,1978).

Whitin makes an interesting point that we need to question the reason behind a particular student's response. Creating opportunities for students to reflect upon their answers through small and whole group discussion. Whitin emphasizes, "To be most effective, the teacher must demonstrate clear expectations for discourse in a way that maintains students' active construction of meaning"(V.39, 2005). For instance, Whitin describes how a teacher uses the book The Story of Ruby Bridges by Robert Coles to have student groups discover examples of the metaphors within the story text. While the teacher asks for examples, one student in particular uses his knowledge of about nuclear fusion such as a "diamond" to create an image of the type of character Ruby Bridges was. Then the students were to critique their metaphors through more small group dialoguing. Creating time as well as opportunities to discuss, share ideas, and critique each other in a collaborative environment is important.