Text, talk and thinking together - Using action research to improve third grade children's talking, reading, and identity construction

Abstract

This article reports from a research project which explores how conscious efforts of teachers to scaffold and develop pupils' linguistic repertoire create changes in the way the children talk and think together when discussing texts in group. Data was collected over the course of one year through video recordings, teacher logbooks and notes in a third grade school class. Four children's dialogues were examined. The results indicate that 1) the children's participation in group discussions increased, 2) they expanded their discourse strategies and 3) disagreement and tension in the discussions seemed to trigger more and richer discourse. How these results affected the children's learning and identity development is discussed. The article closes by some expanding reflections on the theoretical framework used in the study.