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Coconstructing Meaning: Interactive Literary Discussions in Kindergarten Read‐Alouds
Author(s) -
Hoffman Jessica L.
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
the reading teacher
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.642
H-Index - 50
eISSN - 1936-2714
pISSN - 0034-0561
DOI - 10.1002/trtr.01025
Subject(s) - meaning (existential) , psychology , comprehension , meaning making , literal and figurative language , literacy , context (archaeology) , reading comprehension , pedagogy , early childhood , reading (process) , mathematics education , teaching method , linguistics , developmental psychology , paleontology , philosophy , psychotherapist , biology
The new age of digital media and information technologies demands more complex interpretive meaning‐making from readers than ever before. Early childhood teachers must therefore incorporate higher‐level literacy instruction focused on interpretative meaning to prepare students to meet these increasing literacy demands. This study redesigned the kindergarten classroom read aloud into an instructional context for interpretive meaning‐making, rather than only literal level comprehension, where the meaning was constructed through interactive discussion. This article presents four teacher instructional supports for early childhood read aloud discussions designed to foster student engagement in interpretive meaning‐making. Integration of the instructional supports created a read aloud climate centered on co‐construction of interpretive meaning among the teacher and her students.