Dialogic Readers: Children talking and thinking together about visual textscelebrates the sophisticated and dynamic discussions that primary-aged children can have as they talk together to make meaning from a variety of texts, and it highlights the potential for talk between readers as a tool for critical and creative thinking. It proposes a new dialogic theory of reading comprehension that incorporates multi-modal media and adds further weight to the argument that talk as a tool for learning should form a central part of primary classroom learning and teaching.
The book explores:
the language of co-construction
childrens critical and creative responses to text
the dialogic transaction between text and readers
the use of language as a tool for creating a social cohesion between readers.
This significant work is aimed at educational lecturers, researchers and students who want to explore an expanded notion of reading comprehension in the twenty-first century, realizing how opportunities for children thinking creatively together might transform the potential for learning in the classroom. It provides a framework for analyzing co-constructive talk with suggestions for promoting childrens critical and creative thinking.
1 Introduction 2 Making meaning together and from text 3 Talking together: the language of co-construction 4 Thinking together: responding critically and creatively 5. Reading together: exploring strategies for making meaning 6. Reflecting together: the importance of self-monitoring and meta-cognition 7 Learning together: social cohesion as the foundation for co-constructive talk 8 From research into practice. List of references Index
' A thought-provoking read for those involved in primary education in consideringlê