Research has established the central role of high quality discussion in the developing understandings of readers and writers (e.g., Applebee, 1994; Freedman & Delp, 2007; Nystrand, 1997). Studies particularly have focused on the promise of dialogic teaching, or instruction that provides students with ongoing opportunities to engage in…

The home's supportive setting, which has the potential to encourage children to share their thoughts and feelings through spoken language, is the basis of the home's strength as a communicative context. Teachers can help extend this sharing of meaning by creating classroom environments in which written language experiences and microcomputer-based…