After reading the articles, I came across a lot of information that I agreed with regarding literacy and discussions, as well as some information that I wasn’t so sure about because it never pertained to any of my schooling. I really liked how the Almasi article discussed the difference between discussion and recitation. Based on this article as well as my own experiences, I feel that discussions are much more beneficial to students. From my own experience, I feel like students get much more involved in discussion if they are able to respond to each other’s responses and voicing their own opinions, instead of just answering a teacher’s questions. I also like discussions because students are more interactive and the idea of discussion is more authentic then just question and answer. Regarding assessment, although the book said that recitation is a good way of assessing the students, I feel like discussion is just as good of a method. I think that a teacher can assess whether students understand the information regardless of the method of discussion. I also think discussion is much more beneficial for ESL students, because it gives them the opportunities to ask questions, say what they feel, question their own understanding, etc. I think during a question and answer session, ESL students could easily be overlooked, because they could just not be called on- I feel like they would be more likely to talk in a discussion. Discussion also gives the students a chance to explain alternative interpretations- this also gives students a chance to express their creativity and own personal experiences and ideas. Regarding the bullets on page 59, I am not sure how much I agree with the idea that the response-centered talks much require careful planning. I think that some of the best discussions are the ones that are not planned.

Since I am in kindergarten, I don’t usually see this formal discussion- I feel like the most effective discussions I am experience are when I one on one talk to a student. I feel the kids have an easier way discussing their own ideas when it is just one on one because they are able to get all of their thoughts out and your know that they aren’t piggybacking on their peers’ ideas. I also think that this will be helpful diverse learners engage in language arts. I think that the one on one experience will also raise their self esteem as well as answer any questions that the students have. I have two ESL students in my class- one student is fully capable of having group discussions and such completely on her own. My other student though, requires a lot of scaffolding. I feel that he needs to be prompted in order to have discussions. I also think this scaffolding sets up the vocabulary and such that he uses in the conversation. As the year continues though, I think this scaffolding is happening less and less and he is becoming more independent with his conversations.

In Langer’s article, I like the idea of envisionment- I like how it is a thing that always changes, along with your ideas, thoughts, and feelings about your current reading. I was confused about the steps on page 69 though- I’m not sure if students go through the steps progressively or if the students are put into groups for each step or something like that. I am curious as to how it would work for either way.

Nicole Lendo