ABSTRACT

This chapter focuses on talk, the role of the text needs to be signalled. It is important for the teacher to work with the children in selecting high-quality texts: books with strong themes that are well written and that has gaps to fill and questions for readers to answer; books that move readers and that are multi-layered. The National Curriculum for English places emphasis on children talking about texts to further their understanding and highlights the important lessons children learn from engagement with literature. The key for the teacher is to be able to listen to what the children have to say and to respond in ways that encourage them to express their own ideas and to respond to the ideas of others. Rather than the teacher's agenda dominating the talk, it is the children's talk that the teacher follows and facilitates.