Inspiring Dialogue: Talking to Learn in the English Classroom

Mary M. Juzwik · Carlin Borsheim-Black · Samantha Caughlan · Anne Heintz

Apr 2015 · Teachers College Press

About this ebook

Inspiring Dialogue helps new English teachers make dialogic teaching practices a central part of their development as teachers, while also supporting veteran teachers who would like new ideas for inspiring talk in their classrooms. Chapter by chapter, the book follows novice teachers as they build a repertoire of practices for planning for, carrying out, and assessing their efforts at dialogic teaching across the secondary English curriculum. The text also includes a section to support dialogic teacher learning communities through video study and discourse analysis. Providing a thorough discussion of the benefits of dialogic curriculum in meeting the objectives of the Common Core State Standards, this book with its companion website is an ideal resource for teacher development.

Book Features:

Dialogic tools for step-by-step planning within a lesson, over the course of a unit, or during an entire academic year.A user-friendly, interactive layout designed for new teachers who are pressed for time.Classroom examples addressing the challenges English teachers may face in stimulating rich learning talk in an era of standardization. A companion website with additional examples, activities, and course material.

“Real talk. Real classrooms. Real students. The authors of Inspiring Dialogue have given teacher education programs a tool for introducing dialogic teaching in culturally and linguistically diverse classrooms while meeting Common Core State Standards objectives.”
—Maisha T. Winn, Susan J. Cellmer Chair in English Education, University of Wisconsin–Madison, author of Girl Time: Literacy, Justice and the School-to-Prison Pipeline

“Inspiring Dialogue covers a comprehensive and practical set of tools and strategies for implementing dialogic instruction. . . . It is a program that has been fully tested at Michigan State University in one of the most thorough and carefully crafted teacher education programs nationally.”
—From the Foreword by Martin Nystrand, professor emeritus, University of Wisconsin–Madison

“One of the most exciting aspects of English language arts is the discussion that can occur in the classroom. For many teachers, however, it is often a struggle to structure and implement real dialogue. Inspiring Dialogue provides specific guidance to encourage authentic conversations between teachers and students with practical advice for implementation.”
—Leila Christenbury Chair, Department of Teaching and Learning, Commonwealth Professor, English Education, School of Education, Virginia Commonwealth University

Mary M. Juzwik is associate professor of language and literacy in the Department of Teacher Education at Michigan State University (MSU), and co-editor of the journal Research in the Teaching of English. Carlin Borsheim-Black is assistant professor of English language and literature at Central Michigan University (CMU). Samantha Caughlan is an assistant professor of English education in the Department of Teacher Education at MSU. Anne Heintz is an adjunct professor in the Master of Arts in Educational Technology program at MSU.