I+Talk+Them+Through+It

Ghiso, M. P., & McGuire, C. E. (2007). “I talk them through it”: Teacher mediation of picturebooks with sparse verbal text during whole-class readalouds. //Reading Research and Instruction, 46//(4), 341-361. Retrieved July 3, 2009, from Wilson Web.


 * Quotes || Reaction ||
 * 1. "Making sense of picturebooks with sparse verbal text is not simply a matter of decoding print: readers must draw on a range of strategies to negotiate the multiple sign systems in these complex visual aesthetic objects." (p. 342)

2. "From the corpus of thirty-one complete transcripts (created by the teacher from audiotaped readalouds), we identified three readalouds in which picturebooks with sparse verbal text were used: //Yo! Yes?// (Raschka, 1993), //No, David!// (Shannon, 1998) and //David Goes to School// (Shannon, 1999). Considering that only 4% of the 1990-2006 Caldecott books were picturebooks with sparse verbal text, it is notable that this teacher selected such books 10% of the time, thus giving them a more prominent place in her classroom than their representation within award-winning children's literature would suggest." (p. 344) 

3. "Data for this study consisted of the three transcripts, accompanying field notes, and an interview with the classroom teacher." (p. 344)

4. "Throughout the three book discussions and in our interview with her, Mrs. Martin expressed her conception of readalouds as collaborative discovery, where student input is essential to engaging with and making meaning from the text. She noted that the interactive readaloud gives [students] an opportunity to speak, lets them know that you honor what they say, and that what they say is important.'" (p. 346) 

5. "Although such texts may provoke anxiety for some teachers who are uncertain about how to proceed in the absence of an elaborated verbal text, Mrs. Martin's approaches to mediation suggest multiple possible entry points." (p. 355)

6. "Much current emphasis in classrooms is placed on providing children with texts they are able to decode. Picturebooks with sparse verbal text present opportunities for children to experience reading the words on the page, but can also build foundational understandings about literature through discussions mediated by the teacher. Given all of the pressures that surround classroom teaching 'in these times' (Lytle, 2006), with readalouds increasingly rushed and superficial (Copenhaver, 2001), picturebooks with sparse verbal text provide teachers with ideal material for working within and against the constraints of an ever-diminishing emphasis on the exploration of trade books." (p. 356) || 2. I have used two of these three books in the classroom to teach reading comprehension stratagies to older children.

3. I would be interested to see how other teachers use picture books with sparse text.

5. The authors state the main reasons that I believe teachers would not be likely to use picture books with sparse text.

6. Anything teachers can do to use time wisely with constantly increasing demands on time is beneficial to students. ||  Tags: read-aloud, elementary school, research, choosing material , reading aloud effectively