Small-Group Word Study: Instructional Conversations or Mini-Interrogations?

It is widely recognized that children need opportunities to engage with words to build vocabulary knowledge and to learn how words work as means for furthering their reading and writing. Although discussion and talk have the potential to foster children’s understandings and their motivation for word learning, pressure to "get through" the curriculum often leads teachers to limit students’ opportunities to think, question, reflect, and respond in meaningful ways. In this article the authors call for increased student talk during small-group word study. They first provide a theoretical framework and then describe the results of a study in which they observed small-group word study interactions in several culturally diverse 3rd and 4th grade classrooms. Finally, they suggest ways to promote student talk and thinking as means for developing students’ spelling and word identification abilities, as well as their vocabulary knowledge, and to inform teachers about what students know and are ready to learn so they can provide motivating and appropriate instruction.