Comprehension has often been conceptualized in ways that privilege either the "right" understanding of a text (comprehension-as-outcome), or getting to that "right" understanding (comprehension-as-procedure). This article makes a case that we should, instead, teach with an eye toward fostering comprehension-as-sense-making--a socially purposeful…

The journey of one third-grade teacher, Karla Peterson, as she implemented literature discussion groups for the first time, highlighting the ways she moved through this transition, supported students in their struggles, and renegotiated her role in the process is shared. Focus is made on the transition period when literature discussions move from…

Discusses in depth the kinds of trust within classroom communities that make reader-response groups work (trust between teachers and students, trust among students, and students having trust in themselves). (SR)

Focuses on five fifth-grade students for whom student-led literature discussion was not working. Tells what happened when all five of the students were put in one group, and shows that students who seemed to be resistant eventually engaged themselves with the books they were reading. (SR)

In this article, we address the ways children collaborate to inquire about text in the context of group discussions, addressing the question: How do students stay on-topic and sustain their discussions of text? We speculate that a framework for dialogic discourse, referred to as exploratory talk, allows students to understand that discussions of…

The article details the transformation of one literature discussion group reading the story, Felita, by Nicholosa Mohr. The research study documented the process of implementing literature discussion groups with multicultural children's literature in a fourth grade English language arts classroom. Through a discussion of a critical incident in the…

Discusses how teachers make important choices in discussion groups as they support children's dialogue about social inequities. Notes that the kind of safety that developed did not mean that the talk was always pleasant and free of tension, but members could expect a balancing of support for responses with a questioning approach. (SG)

Reflects on how the author's third-grade students, experienced in literary conversation from their reading workshop, transferred the practice of literary conversation to their writing workshop. (SR)

Shares how one teacher and her class of seventh graders learned to share and discuss literature through the notions of stances and instructional scaffolding. (MG)

Emphasizes that literacy involves more than simply knowing how to read and write. Explains how a teacher expanded reading and writing activities to all areas of the curriculum to demonstrate to first grade students that writing can be used as a tool to make sense of the world around them. (SKC)