Children's Voices: Talk in the Classroom.

One of my colleagues recently showed me an old cartoon clipped from a professional journal. In the cartoon, a teacher is explaining to a group of pupils how exciting her class would be. "This course is going to stimulate your thinking and your creativity," the caption reads, "but remember - no talking!"

In this excellent monograph, Cullinan and her six collaborators emphatically explain the fallacy of that teacher's statement. Recent research on talk in the classroom shows that students need to talk in order to learn and eventually become competent language users. The authors discuss ways to organize classrooms in order to support the sharing of books in the same way that book-loving families do. Readers will learn how to create environments that will encourage literate talk.

Those responsible for developing the research base for "oracy," which means "general ability in the skills of speaking and listening" (analogous to the more familiar term "literacy"), believe that these skills develop from practice in a variety of situations. An opening chapter provides a clear overview of how oral language activities can be linked to literature in elementary language arts classrooms. The remaining chapters examine in detail four specific activities that encourage children to use their increasing powers of speech: storytelling, creative dramatics, discussions and literature circles.

These four chapters build upon the interwoven nature of language. The authors demonstrate that children deepen their reading comprehension by talking about books, develop communication skills and writing ideas by telling and listening to stories and make personal connections to literature that spark continued reading by dramatizing favorite scenes.

Because of a long-time interest in storytelling, I naturally found this to be my favorite chapter. Although the benefits of storytelling are well known, many classroom teachers have been reluctant to try it. This publication should make the reader feel more comfortable with that practice. The author shares some tips that worked for him and provides starting materials. He offers advice to teachers and their students on how to spin a good tale. This chapter, like the others, is followed by a list of numerous children's books. Reviewed by Robert L. Gilstrap, Professor and Coordinator of Middle Education Programs, Graduate School of Education, George Mason University, Fairfax, VA