An Annotation by Laurie Walsh
The article begins with a comparison and contrast of two classrooms, each discussing the character of Queen Gertrude in Hamlet.  The two classrooms exhibit different “interpretive norms–patterns of interaction that occur when students and teachers discuss texts”.  The author references Townsend and Pace’s article and their questions for interpretive norms:
Whose interpretations [...]

An Annotation by Laurie Walsh
People need to talk because we’re highly social organisms! Students should not be expected to sit silently and do their work.
The author states,
“discussion has many advantages, not the least of which is that simply opening the mouth to speak sends oxygen to the brain and facilitates dendratic growth”.
The author uses statistics [...]

An Annotation by Laurie Walsh
The author begins with a quote on brain research and education by Robert Sylwester, schools need to,
“. . .focus more on metacognitive activities that encourage students to talk about their emotions, listen to their classmates’ feelings, and think about the motivations of people who enter their curricular world.  For example, the [...]

An Annotation by Laurie Walsh
According to this author, through the use of literature circles, students
“become information literate by reading authentic literature, thinking about the messages and intent of the author, listening to peers discuss their own interpretations, cooperatively participating in discussions with others, and reflectively drawing their own personal and relevant connections” (39).
My goodness!  I [...]

McKeown, M. &  Beck, I. (November 1999). “Getting the discussion started.” Educational Leadership.  Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.
An Annotation by Laurie Walsh
I read an article on the constructivist approach to teaching literature, which involves a classroom where “students must construct their own knowledge and teachers must orient their instructional practices toward teaching for understanding” [...]

Kahn, E. (Mar 2007). Building fires: raising achievement through class discussion.  English Journal, 96, 16-19.  Retrieved March 7, 2008 from ProQuest database.
An Annotation by Laurie Walsh
The author, a high school English teacher, cites several researchers to prove that discussion enhances student achievement in reading.  She differentiates between discussion and extended recitation.  Discussion must involve an [...]

Johannessen, L. (Sep 2003). Strategies for initiating authentic discussion.  English Journal, 93, 73.  Retrieved July 6, 2008 from ProQuest database.
An Annotation by Laurie Walsh
The author defines authentic discussion as a conversation with genuine inquiry into a problem or question that has no predetermined answer.  He provides two examples of activities that have built-in controversy related [...]

Freedman, R.L.H.  (1994).  Questioning formats. In Open-ended questioning: a handbook for educators (pp.11-20).  Dale Seymour Publications.
An Annotation by Laurie Walsh
The author reviews six questioning formats that call for higher-order thinking processes: analysis, comparison, description, evaluation, fiction, and problem solving- and provides a list of the thinking strategies used and specific examples for each.  The article [...]

Daniels, H.  (1994).  Literature circles: voice and choice in the student-centered classroom.  York, Maine: Stenhouse Publishers.
An Annotation by Laurie Walsh
Another practical book – yahoo!  The author explains the use of literature circles in classrooms ranging from elementary school to college.  He connects the idea to the work of Rosenblatt, the Johnsons, Dewey, Rogers, Moffett and [...]

Brown, M. (2001). Literature circles build excitement for books!  Retrieved June 30, 2008 from http://www.education-world.com/a curr/curr259.shtml.
An Annotation by Laurie Walsh
Brown reviews the beliefs of Harvey Daniels, author of Literature Circles: Voice and Choice in the Student-Centered Classroom, Katherine L. Schlick Noe, Ph.D., an associate professor at the School of Education at Seattle University, and Pam [...]