Use of
Language to
Promote
Literacy
Stephanie Blake-Gomez
Cynda Mehlert
Caity Stockstell
 Agency
- a child’s sense of self and his
own abilities.
 As
adults, we influence children’s selfperceptions by how we speak to them.
 “Children
should leave school with a
sense that if they act, and act
strategically, they can accomplish their
.” (Johnston, P., 2004, p. 29).

Smart is not something you are; it is something that
you get. Teachers must help children “get smart”
by teaching the value in learning and
perseverance, not in feeling smart and achieving
the highest test score.

People of all ages carry a fixed or dynamic
mindset (or a combination of both), and the
mindset we adopt for ourselves profoundly affects
our approach to life.

Understanding fixed and dynamic theories guides
our approaches in developing student agency.
(Johnston, 2004)
Fixed Performance Frame
Beliefs
Permanent traits and (in)abilities

Fixed, unchanging characteristics

If you have to try hard, you probably aren’t smart

Success is most important, how one succeeds is irrelevant
(cheating and lying)

Some people are smart and some are not, there isn’t much
you can do about it

Competition is important, the faster the better

Simple events, like mistakes, challenges, errors, and asking
for help are indicators of one’s intellectual inadequacy
(Johnston, 2012)
Dynamic Performance Frame
Beliefs
Ability or intelligence grows with learning and depends on
the situation

The more you learn, the smarter you get

Learning may be hard and that’s okay

Looking good or bad is not relevant in learning

Taking challenges and making mistakes are a part of
learning, mistakes don’t point to inadequacies

Collaboration is important for success, seeking help from
others is sensible

Difficulty means interesting
(Johnston, 2012)



Different forms of feedback nurture very
different narratives about self. Process Versus
Person Feedback, focus on different aspects of
the process-effort and strategy-and not the
person. Person-oriented praise draws students
into a fixed performance world.
Think about the way we frame activities. “Let’s
see who’s the best (or quickest) at doing these
problems” is very different from “Let’s see which
of these problems is the most interesting.”
Explicitly teach students about how people’s
brains and minds work. If student’s know that
each time they learn something new , their
brain literally grows new cells, they can apply
that to their thinking about the stability of
intelligence.
(Johnston, 2012)
Person Oriented
Process Oriented

“You are good at math!”


“I am so proud of you!”


“You are so smart!”

“Nice work!”


(Johnston, 2012)
“Look how you figured that
out!”
“I bet you are proud of
yourself!”
“What did you do to help
yourself?”
“You worked hard today,
how does that feel?”
If we want students to be self-directed and
develop agency, they need to be responsible
for making decisions for authentic reasons.
Attention to process
“How did (or could) you figure
that out?”
Take up noticing
“What are you noticing?”
“I noticed that…”
Cross check
“How could you check?”
Multiple perspectives
“Are there any other ways to
think about that?”
Change and
possibility
(Johnston, 2012)
“You can’t do it…yet!”
“What have you done so far?”
Role of
Language During Teaching
Tool
for communicating specific knowledge, skills, and
strategies to children
Prompts
stimulate children’s problem solving processes
Provide
immediate feedback that describes children’s
behavior
Impacts
students’ perception of learning, shapes their
theory of learning
(Dorn & Jones, 2012)
Higher Level Development
 “We have known for a long time that conversation with
an adult was the best tutorial situation in which to raise
the child’s functioning to a high level”
(Clay, M.,1991, p. 70).
Neural Growth
happens because of
DO:
the process, not the
solution
Be problem solving
focused, not
solution oriented
Examples of Language
Focused on Problem Solving
 What
are you trying to figure out?
 What’s wrong?
 What did you notice?
 How can you help yourself?
 What strategy would work there?
Conversation


Needs to share
similar
understandingIntersubjectivity
Child must gain
meaning from it
(Dorn & Jones, 2012)
Teacher




Must be familiar with
student
Understand what the
student is trying to
communicate
Observe child for
understanding
Adjust as needed
(Cazden, 2004)

The teacher carefully
observes the
knowledge and skills of
young children and
uses language to build
bridges that enable
children to use what
they already know to
acquire new and
unknown information
(Clay and Cazden,
1990).
something you find interesting
something you have a question about
bright” idea or thought
Language to Assist Student
Performance
Match Example to Purpose
Examples:
Purposes:
Today you will
read to find out
how the problem
is solved.
Anticipate
Potential
Difficulties
How can you use
what you
learned today in
writing to help
you with
reading?
Promote
Transfer
What tricky parts
do you need to
watch out for?
Establish
Learning
Goals

Rogoff (1990, 39) characterizes
apprenticeship learning as shared problem
solving between an active learner and a
more skilled partner. She identified the
following features of guided participation:
“the importance of routine activities, tacit as
well as explicit communication, supportive
structuring of novices’ efforts, and transfer of
responsibility for handling skills to novices.” This
can be brought about through modeling,
coaching, scaffolding, articulating, and
reflecting (Collins et al. 1989).
(Dorn & Jones, 2012)
Example:
Model how to look for
chunks in a word.
Expert provides clear model
Benchmark to compare
performance
Teacher becomes part of
internal dialogue of student
(Dorn & Soffos, 2001)
Example Language:
“If I don’t’ know a word, I
can look for chunks in the
word.”
“I can separate the chunks
with a line.”
sci I en I tists
“Blend the chunks together
to figure out the word.”
scientists
Directs children’s thinking to
task at hand
Involves guided
participation
Teacher offers hints,
reminders, feedback,
modeling, and other types of
support to ensure successful
performance
(Dorn & Jones, 2012)
Example of Language
Prompts:
“Can you say more about
that?” (Inviting Elaboration)
“I’m not sure what you mean.
Can you explain that to me?”
(Admitting perplexity)
“We all agree on that point,
but let’s talk more about
why.” (Refocusing discussion)
(Dorn & Soffos, 2001)
Provides just enough
support for student to
accomplish task successfully
Assists a child in his of her
zone of proximal
development
 Can be taken away (selfdestructing)
(Dorn & Soffos, 2001) and
(Dorn & Jones, 2012)
Learning to ride a
bike…
Level
Degree of Assistance
Example of Prompt
Level 1
General Verbal
Provides no assistance:
“You try it.”
Level 2
Specific Verbal
Directs child’s attention to the
needs source of information:
“Read it again and see what
would make sense there.”
Level 3
Specific Verbal Plus
Directs child’s attention to the
needs source of information
by using verbal prompt”Search through the word to
the ending”-plus uses a sliding
card to uncover the word’s
ending.
Level 4
Prepares for Next
Action
Supplies correct word and
asks child to confirm, “Could
that word be take? Try and
see if it fits.”
Level 5
Demonstrates Next
Action
Models the action: “I’ll add
an e on the end of the word
to make it look right
(Wood, 2002) and (Dorn & Jones, 2012)
Example Language
Prompts:
“How did you know?”
Specific language prompt
Encourages children to
articulate their knowledge or
problem solving strategy
during a particular task
Can help children learn
how to plan, organize, and
reflect on their literacy
performances
(Dorn & Jones, 2012)
“What can you try?”
“What did you notice?”
“What are some important
things you do to edit your
story?”
“Tell me the strategies you
used while reading.”
“What are you thinking?”
“What is your plan?”
Prompts :
“How do you think you did
on that?”
Students judge their
performance to an external
standard
“Where do you think you
did your best work?”
Questions focused on
personal accomplishment
As you look back on your
work, what changes do you
see?
Analyze and reflect on their
own progress
(Dorn & Jones, 2012)
•Reflecting on one’s own
work enhances meaning
•Reflecting on
experiences is amplified
when done with partners
(York-Barr, Sommers,
Ghere, & Montie, 2006)


Fundamental goal of
education is to
enable individuals to
assume responsibility
for their own learning
If students are to
become
independent
learners, they must
be able to use the
power of language
and other forms of
mental
representation to
guide construction,
adaptation, and
correction of task
performance, and to
benefit from the
assistance of others
(Meichenbaum &
Biemiller, 1998)
Ultimate goal…
Now What?
We know better, we do better…
Here are ways we are working to
enhance our use of language in
Waterloo Community School
District
Book Study
“Connecting our professional learning with
teachers to these books will make our thinking
together, working together, and disagreeing
together even stronger…and the VALUE of it
will be seen as greater.”
-Orange Elementary Teachers
and Administrator
Second Step
Character Builders
Leader in Me
Resources to Use
Video
Example Apps:
iMovie and SS Stories
 Pictures with Text
 Boardmaker
 Boardmakershare.com
 Audio Only

-Did anyone notice…?
-You have learned so much!
-How did you do that?
-How did you know that?
-How could we figure that out?
-You figured that out with hard work.
-Thanks for teaching us that.
-Are you ready to get started?
-What problems did you come across
today?
-Which part are you sure about and which
part are you not sure about?
-How are you planning to go about this?
-Why…?
-How else…?
-What if…?
-Would you agree with that?
-Repeat what he said for us so we can
think about it.
-You have not figured out that
problem…yet.
-I bet you are proud of yourself!
-What are you doing as a (writer) today?
-That’s not like you.
_______________________
_
 If a child is fully engaged in something
and you praise them, you shift their
attention to pleasing you. Notice them
without judgment. Our focus must be on
problem solving and teaching kids to work
and think together! 
-Peter
Johnston
Recorded/Live Interactions
with Student(s)
Behind the Glass
Video Recordings
Coaching Cycles/Site
Visits
Audio Recordings
Self-Reflection
Questions



Is your language
meaningful to the child?
Is your language
relevant to the task at
hand?
Is your language
focused on the problem
solving rather than
praising the outcome?
(Dorn & Jones, 2012)
No matter what
way you try to
help improve
your language or
other’s
language…
just know that you
CAN DO IT!
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Clay, M. M. (1991). Becoming literate: The construction of inner
control. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.
Clay, M. M. (2005). Literacy Lessons Designed for Individuals.
Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.
Dorn, L.J. & Jones, T. (2012). Apprenticeship in literacy: Transitions
across reading and writing, K-4. Portland, Maine: Stenhouse
Publishers
Dorn, L.J. & Soffos, C. (2012). Interventions that work. Boston, MA:
Pearson.
Harris, B. (2011). Battling boredom. Larchmont, NY: Eye on
Education.
Johnston, P.H. (2004). Choice words. New York, NY: Stenhouse
Publishers.
Johnston, P.H. (2012). Opening minds. New York, NY: Stenhouse
Publishers.
Lyons, C. & Pinnell, G.S. (2001). Systems for change in literacy
education: A guide to professional development. Portsmouth, NH:
Heinemann.
Meichenbaum D. & Biemiller, A. (1998). Nuturing independent
learners: Helping students take charge of their own learning.
Auburn Hills, MI: Brookline Books.
York-Barr J., Sommers, W. A., Ghere, G.S., & Montie, J. (2006).
Reflective practice to improve schools: An action guide for
educators. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.