Opening Minds: Using Language to Change Lives - Johnston, Peter H Review & Synopsis

Synopsis "Introducing a spelling test to a student by saying, 'Let's see how many words you know,' is different from saying, 'Let's see how many words you know already.' It is only one word, but the already suggests that any words the child knows are ahead of expectation and, most important, that there is nothing permanent about what is known and not known." - Peter Johnston Sometimes a single word changes everything. In his groundbreaking book Choice Words, Peter Johnston demonstrated how the things teachers say (and don't say) have surprising consequences for the literate lives of students. Now, in Opening Minds: Using Language to Change Lives, Peter shows how the words teachers choose affect the worlds students inhabit in the classroom, and ultimately their futures. He explains how to engage children with more productive talk and to create classrooms that support not only students' intellectual development, but their development as human beings. Grounded in research, Opening Minds: Using Language to Change Lives shows how words can shape students' learning, their sense of self, and their social, emotional and moral development. Make no mistake: words have the power to open minds - or close them. Review Peter Johnston grew up and taught elementary school in New Zealand before coming to the United States to earn his Ph.D. at the Center for the Study of Reading at the University of Illinois. At the time his plans did not include staying in the United States let alone getting married and raising a family. He now lives in Albany, New York, with his wife Tina, and a cat left behind by one of his (three) children returning briefly from college. Peter's research and writing spring from his fascination with children's learning and, no less, teachers' teaching. Perversely, he believes that education is not simply about delivering information to children. He thinks it is more about building a just, caring society and that doing so will not detract from our more obviously pragmatic educational goals. In his most recent Stenhouse book, Choice Words, he uses his fascination with the relationship between language and learning to show how this works moment to moment in the classroom. A professor at the State University of New York at Albany, Peter and his colleagues Becky Rogers and Cheryl Dozier recently researched their own teaching of beginning teachers in Critical Literacy/Critical Teaching: Tools for Preparing Responsive Teachers. Knowing Literacy, his most recent book on assessment, arose from his interest in the ways assessment teaching and learning are linked. His research on assessment has given him reason to be skeptical of high-stakes testing because of its effects on teaching and learning. When asked to describe himself as a writer, he says that he "binges." While not recommended, this approach has resulted in some eight books and about fifty research articles, along with occasional awards from professional organizations. Some of this, of course, is accounted for by age. The departure of his youngest daughter into a teacher education program, along with his recent election to the Reading Hall of Fame, asserts his "old fart" status. Beyond his family, research, soccer, singing, and humor sustain him. Failing that, a glass of chardonnay helps. "By combining rich descriptions of classroom interactions with research to back up his claims, Johnston writes convincingly and paints lasting images of effective ways to engender agency (the will to act), positive self-theories, and constructive perspectives to change lives within our classrooms." - Language Arts "Johnston's thinking is transformative. He has created a layered effect of ideas and theories that form a solid path to becoming a master in the apprenticeship of children into humanity." - MiddleWeb "It is brilliant. Just as in Choice Words, Johnston packs a ton into a small book." - A Year of Reading blog Layers of Learning What if we viewed every read aloud as an invitation to learn more about literacy and ourselves? When we layer together the two ideas that the books we share not only serve an academic purpose, but they also convey big, affective messages, our classroom conversations become richer and student learning becomes more meaningful. Layers of Learning explores read-aloud strategies designed to enhance your reading and writing standards by capitalizing on the way literature can impact caring communities. With over 200 picture-book suggestions, author JoEllen McCarthy introduces the Heartprint Framework, which demonstrates how you can layer literacy and life lessons throughout your day using multiple connections across learning. Inside, you'll find the following: 60 read-aloud-based connections that support caring classroom conversations, lesson planning, and extensions Instructional opportunities for nurturing readers and writers during workshop, small-group, and individual conversations Literacy Snapshot photo essays with ideas to adopt or adapt Continuing connections with additional resources and invitations for further learning Layers of Learning is structured around four key elements: Community, Agency, Respect, and Empowerment, or CARE. Inside you'll discover the tools you need to emphasize reading and writing connections, character education, and culturally responsive teaching, while championing the power of read alouds to affect independent readers, writers, and thinkers. Author Matt de la Peña wrote this story to illustrate that “immigration is an American issue” and to celebrate love , loyalty, and the reality that we are not alone. Readers of all ages will appreciate illustrator Christian Robinson's ..." The Construction Zone Instructional scaffolding is an essential part of teaching literacy. But what is scaffolding exactly? What does it look like in a classroom, and how can we improve the ways we use it? Despite its prominence in the repertoire of teaching strategies, scaffolding remains a vague concept for many teachers. In essence, scaffolding is the idea of supporting students as they build independence. In The Construction Zone: Building Scaffolding for Readers and Writers, Terry Thompson identifies four critical processes to deepen your understanding and improve your practice of instructional scaffolding: - Finding and maintaining a specific focus - Practicing flexibility in planning and delivering instruction - Giving constructive feedback in response to student efforts - Monitoring to ensure that students are working at optimal levels of responsibility Thompson encourages teachers to enhance their use of the traditional gradual release process through five actionable steps: show, share, support, sustain, and survey, and in doing so provides procedures and techniques to help them establish and maintain strong scaffolds throughout the instructional day. The Construction Zone is written from the teacher's perspective and urges educators to fully embrace their role in the scaffolding process while staying mindful of the effect it has on students. Taking a student from dependence upon the teacher to independent learning is what teaching is all about, and instructional scaffolding is key to accomplishing this goal. Regardless of where you are in your understanding of instructional scaffolding, The Construction Zone will raise your level of awareness around your instructional practices and the ways you scaffold students to independence. Teaching with Poverty in Mind: What Being Poor Does to Kids' Brains and What Schools Can Do About It. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and ... Johnston , Peter H . 2004. ... Opening Minds : Using Language to Change Lives ." Still Learning to Read Foreword by Colby Sharp In the decade since the first edition of Still Learning to Read was published, the prevalence of testing and the Common Core State Standards have changed what is expected of both teachers and students. The new edition of Still Learning to Read focuses on the needs of students in grades 3-6 in all aspects of reading workshop, including reading workshop, read-aloud, classroom design, digital tools, fiction, nonfiction, and close reading. The book stays true to its original beliefs of slowing down and knowing our readers, but it also takes into account the sense of urgency that changing times and standards impose on classrooms. This edition examines current trends in literacy, includes a new section on intentional instructional planning, and provides expanded examples of mini-lessons and routines that promote deeper thinking about learning. It also includes a brand new chapter on scaffolding for reading nonfiction and showcases the authors' latest thinking on close reading and text complexity. Online videos provide glimpses into classrooms as students make book choices, work in small groups, and discuss their reading notebooks. Expanded and updated book lists, recommendations for digital tools, lesson cycles, and sections specifically written for school leaders round out this foundational resource. Lesson Focus Language We Might Use with Students to Start Readers Have Expectations When They Know the Author or Series the Conversation Day 1 Chalk by Bill Thomson Readers think while they read. Stopping at each page, we ask readers, ..." Hands Down, Speak Out "Hands Down, Speak Out is an innovative book that looks at how we can teach students how to talk and listen to one another, without all discourse running through the teacher. Kassia is a math coach and Christy is a literacy coach. Together, they show how to teach dialogue "micro-lessons" alongside content, both within and across math and literacy, so students become increasingly skilled and independent in conversations. Their hope is that students will have better, deeper discourse within the content areas, and also beyond the classroom"-- Hyde, Arthur. 2006. Comprehending Math: Adapting Reading Strategies to Mathematics, K–6. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann. Johnston , Peter H . 2012. Opening Minds : Using Language to Change Lives . Portland, ME: Stenhouse. Kay, Matthew. 2018." Who's Doing the Work? In their follow-up to Reading Wellness, Jan Burkins and Kim Yaris explore how some traditional scaffolding practices may actually rob students of important learning opportunities and independence. Who's Doing the Work? suggests ways to make small but powerful adjustments to instruction that hold students accountable for their own learning. Educators everywhere are concerned about students whose reading development inexplicably plateaus, as well as those who face challenging texts without applying the strategies they've been taught. When such problems arise, our instinct is to do more. But when we summarize text before reading or guide students when they encounter difficult words, are we leading them to depend on our support? If we want students to use strategies independently, Jan and Kim believe that we must question the ways our scaffolding is getting in the way. Next generation reading instruction is responsive to students' needs, and it develops readers who can integrate reading strategies without prompting from instructors. In Who's Doing The Work?, Jan and Kim examine how instructional mainstays such as read-aloud, shared reading, guided reading, and independent reading look in classrooms where students do more of the work. Classroom snapshots at the end of each chapter help translate the ideas in the book into practice. Who's Doing the Work? offers a vision for adjusting reading instruction to better align with the goal of creating independent, proficient, and joyful readers. 1968. Rosie's Walk. New York: Macmillan. Johnston , Peter H . 2012. Opening Minds : Using Language to Change Lives . Portland, ME: Stenhouse. Joyce, William. 2012. The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore. New York: Atheneum." The Literacy Workshop "This book offers a unique interpretation of traditional workshop instruction by showing teachers how to integrate their separate reading and writing workshops into one 'literacy workshop' (periodically and as dictated by student needs) that takes advantage of the inherent reciprocity between reading and writing. Through narrative discussion, student samples, photographs, instructional resources, online content, suggested lessons and various mentor texts, the book explains the structure of the literacy workshop, tells readers how to get started with it, and shows them how to decide when it's best to merge the two workshops into one. The book is divided into two parts. Part I (Chapters 1-4) lays the foundation and gives the nuts and bolts of literacy workshop. Part II (Chapters 5-9) includes engagement/strategy/topic focused demonstration lessons - which includes a primary and an intermediate level example lesson for each Big Idea"-- My Forest Is Green. Toronto, ON: Kids Can Press. Lehrhaupt, Adam. 2018. Idea Jar. New York: Simon and Schuster. Lendroth, Susan. ... Luyken , Corinna . 2019. my heart . New York: Dial Books for Young Readers. MacLachlan, Patricia. 1998." Culturally Responsive Teaching and The Brain A bold, brain-based teaching approach to culturally responsive instruction The achievement gap remains a stubborn problem for educators of culturally and linguistically diverse students. With the introduction of the rigorous Common Core State Standards, diverse classrooms need a proven framework for optimizing student engagement and facilitating deeper learning Culturally responsive pedagogy has shown great promise in meeting this need, but many educators still struggle with its implementation. In this book, Zaretta Hammond draws on cutting-edge neuroscience research to offer an innovative approach for designing and implementing brain-compatible culturally responsive instruction. The book includes: Information on how one’s culture programs the brain to process data and affects learning relationships Ten "key moves" to build students’ learner operating systems and prepare them to become independent learners Prompts for action and valuable self-reflection With a firm understanding of these techniques and principles, teachers and instructional leaders will confidently reap the benefits of culturally responsive instruction. "An essential, compelling, and practical examination of the relationship between culture and cognition that will forever transform how we think about our role facilitating the learning of other people’s children—and our own children! —LaShawn Routé Chatmon, Executive Director National Equity Project "All students can and will learn at high levels when provided the type of instruction described in this book. This work calls us to action by mandating that we move beyond looking for student outcomes that rely heavily on the regurgitation of memorized facts to applying the information learned to new situations." —Kendra Ferguson, Chief of Schools Kipp Bay Area Schools, Oakland, CA How the Brain Learns (2011) by David A. Sousa Soft - Wired : How the New Science of Brain Plasticity Can Change Your Life (2013) by Dr . Michael Merzenich , PhD 4 PREPARING TO BE A CULTURALLY RESPONSIVE PRACTITIONER The real." Digging Deeper "Sense-making makes mathematics personal, and when it's personal, it comes to life. And that's how Number Talks can really make a difference."--Ruth Parker and Cathy Humphreys How teachers react to wrong answers and mistakes makes all the difference in mathematics class. The response can determine whether a student tunes out or delves in. In this comprehensive sequel to Making Number Talks Matter, Ruth Parker and Cathy Humphreys explore more deeply the ways Number Talks can transform student understanding of mathematics. Through vignettes and videos, you'll meet teachers who are learning to listen closely to students and prompting them to figure things out for themselves. You'll learn how they make on-the-spot decisions, continually advancing and deepening the conversation. Personal and accessible, this book highlights: The kinds of questions that elicit deeper thinking Ways to navigate tricky, problematic, or just plain hard exchanges in the classroom How to more effectively use wait time during Number Talks The importance of creating a safe learning environment How to nudge students to think more flexibly without directing their thinking This book offers a rich assortment of ideas to help make Number Talks even more vibrant and meaningful for you and your students. Mathematical Mindsets: Unleashing Students' Potential Through Creative Math, Inspiring Messages and Innovative Teaching. ... Johnston , Peter H . 2004. Choice Words : How Our Language ... Opening Minds : Using Language to Change Lives ." Activate Discover what happens when your students step out of their daily routines and activate their engagement. Author Katherine Mills Hernandez argues that movement, talk, and the physical environment of the classroom all contribute and influence students' learning. The ideas in Activate! will help you create a classroom optimized for deeper engagement and lasting learning. No matter what subject you teach, Katherine invites you to shift your attention from what you are doing in the classroom, to what your students are doing as the catalyst for learning. She provides insights into instruction through real classroom lessons as she gives you the tools to better assess your students' engagement and energy levels. The book describes practical ways to incorporate movement into the classroom routine, based on research on how an active brain generates true learning. Katherine invites you into her own classroom by sharing vignettes from lessons and activities, opening up the pages of her own learning journal, sharing pictures from her classroom, and examples of classroom charts. She also provides a comprehensive bibliography on the research behind the science of movement and talk and how they affect learning. Jensen, Frances E., and Amy Ellis Nutt. 2015. The Teenage Brain: A Neuroscientist's Survival Guide to Raising Adolescents and Young Adults. New York: HarperCollins. Johnston , Peter H . 2012. Opening Minds : Using Language to Change Lives ." Disrupting Poverty Drawing upon decades of research and myriad authentic classroom experiences, Kathleen M. Budge and William H. Parrett dispel harmful myths, explain the facts, and urge educators to act against the debilitating effects of poverty on their students. They share the powerful voices of teachers—many of whom grew up in poverty—to amplify the five classroom practices that permeate the culture of successful high-poverty schools: (1) caring relationships and advocacy, (2) high expectations and support, (3) commitment to equity, (4) professional accountability for learning, and (5) the courage and will to act. Readers will explore classroom-tested strategies and practices, plus online templates and exercises that can be used for personal reflection or ongoing collaboration with colleagues. Disrupting Poverty provides teachers, administrators, coaches, and others with the background information and the practical tools needed to help students break free from the cycle of poverty. ... Teaching with Poverty in Mind : What Being Poor Does to Kids ' Brains and What Schools Can Do About It by Eric Jensen (#109074) ASCD EDge® Group Exchange ideas and connect with other educators interested in poverty on the social ..." Read, Write, Lead Literacy is a skill for all time, for all people. It is an integral part of our lives, whether we are students or adult professionals. Giving all educators the breadth of knowledge and practical tools that help students strengthen their literacy skills is the focus of Read, Write, Lead. Drawing on her experience as a mentor teacher, reading specialist, instructional coach, and staff developer, author Regie Routman offers time-tested advice on how to develop a schoolwide learning culture that leads to more effective reading and writing across the curriculum. She explains how every school—including yours—can: implement instructional practices that lead to better engagement and achievement in reading and writing for all students, from kindergarten through high school, including second-language and struggling learners; build Professional Literacy Communities of educators working together to create sustainable school change through professional learning based on shared beliefs; reduce the need for intervention through daily practices that ensure success, even for our most vulnerable learners; and embed the language of productive feedback in responsive instruction, conferences, and observations in order to accelerate learning for students, teachers, and leaders. In their own voices, teachers, principals, literacy specialists, and students offer real-life examples of changes that led to dramatic improvement in literacy skills and—perhaps just as important--increased joy in teaching and learning. Scattered throughout the book are “Quick Wins”--ideas and actions that can yield positive, affirming results while tackling the tough work of long-term change. ... books on effective language use and feedback include Choice Words : How Our Language Affects Children's Learning and Opening Minds : Using Language to Change Lives , both by Peter H . Johnston ; and Visible Learning by John Hattie." The Language of Learning Your essential guide for teaching core competencies that every child needs for developing into a highly engaged, self-motivated learner. The Language of Learning offers a practical approach to teaching essential communication skills: Listening and understanding; Thinking before speaking; Speaking clearly and concisely; Asking thoughtful questions; Giving high-quality answers; Backing up opinions with reasons and evidence; Agreeing thoughtfully; Disagreeing respectfully. Classroom Discourse: The Language of Teaching and Learning by Courtney B. Cazden. Heinemann. 2001. opening Minds : Using Language to Change Livesby Peter H . Johnston . Stenhouse. 2012. Talking About Text: Guiding Students to Increase ..." Turning High-Poverty Schools into High-Performing Schools Schools across the United States and Canada are disrupting the adverse effects of poverty and supporting students in ways that enable them to succeed in school and in life. In this second edition, Parrett and Budge show you how your school can achieve similar results. Expanding on their original framework's still-critical concepts of actions and school culture, they incorporate new insights for addressing equity, trauma, and social-emotional learning. These fresh perspectives combine with lessons learned from 12 additional high-poverty, high-performing schools to form the updated and enhanced Framework for Collective Action. Emphasizing students' social, emotional, and academic learning as the hub for all action in high-performing, high-poverty schools, the authors describe how educators can work within the expanded Framework to address the needs of all students, but particularly those who live in poverty. Equipped with the Framework and a plethora of tools to build collective efficacy (self-assessments, high-leverage questions, action advice, and more), school and district leaders—as well as teachers, teacher leaders, instructional coaches, and other staff—can close persistent opportunity gaps and reverse longstanding patterns of low achievement. Students . Living. in. Poverty . At the time of publication, the following resources were available (ASCD stock ... by Eric Jensen (#QRG118041) Teaching with Poverty in Mind : What Being Poor Does to Kids ' Brains and What Schools Can Do ..." Encyclopedia of Language Development The progression from newborn to sophisticated language user in just a few short years is often described as wonderful and miraculous. What are the biological, cognitive, and social underpinnings of this miracle? What major language development milestones occur in infancy? What methodologies do researchers employ in studying this progression? Why do some become adept at multiple languages while others face a lifelong struggle with just one? What accounts for declines in language proficiency, and how might such declines be moderated? Despite an abundance of textbooks, specialized monographs, and a couple of academic handbooks, there has been no encyclopedic reference work in this area--until now. The Encyclopedia of Language Development covers the breadth of theory and research on language development from birth through adulthood, as well as their practical application. Features: This affordable A-to-Z reference includes 200 articles that address such topic areas as theories and research tradition; biological perspectives; cognitive perspectives; family, peer, and social influences; bilingualism; special populations and disorders; and more. All articles (signed and authored by key figures in the field) conclude with cross reference links and suggestions for further reading. Appendices include a Resource Guide with annotated lists of classic books and articles, journals, associations, and web sites; a Glossary of specialized terms; and a Chronology offering an overview and history of the field. A thematic Reader’s Guide groups related articles by broad topic areas as one handy search feature on the e-Reference platform, which includes a comprehensive index of search terms. Available in both print and electronic formats, Encyclopedia of Language Development is a must-have reference for researchers and is ideal for library reference or circulating collections. Language Development, discusses the use of language and literacy across the curriculum in language genres such as science, ... Baltimore, MD: Paul H . Brookes, 1995. ... Johnston , P. H. Opening Minds : Using Language to Change Lives ." Literacy, Place, and Pedagogies of Possibility How can teachers ensure a pedagogy of possibility underpinned by social justice, and what has literacy got to do with this? This book explores the positive synergies between critical literacy and place-conscious pedagogy. Through rich classroom research it introduces and demonstrates how a synthesis of insights from theories of space and place and literacy studies can underpin the design and enactment of culturally inclusive curriculum for diverse student communities, and illustrates how making place and space the objects of study provide productive resources for teachers to design enabling pedagogical practices that extend students’ literate repertoires. The argument is that systematic study of and engagement with specific elements of place can enable students’ academic learning and literacy. Literacy, Place, and Pedagogies of Possibility is informed by critical literacy, place-conscious pedagogy and spatial theory is richly illustrated with examples from classroom research, including teacher and student artifacts provides new directions for classroom practice in critical literacy This novel combination of multidisciplinary theory and classroom research extends previous work in critical literacy pedagogy, drawing on two decades of ethnographic and collaborative inquiry in classrooms situated in culturally and linguistically diverse classrooms. Janks, H 2010, Literacy and power, Routledge, New York & London. Johnston , P 2012, Opening minds : Using language to change lives , Stenhouse, Portland, Maine. ... 2004, Spatializing literacy research and practice, Peter Lang. New York." Apel-Apel Mr Peabody A boy learns a lesson about the destructive power of gossip. A boy learns a lesson about the destructive power of gossip." Literacy Teacher Educators Literacy Teacher Educators: Preparing Teachers for a Changing World brings together the perspectives of 26 literacy/English teacher educators from four countries: Canada, U.S., UK, and Australia. In this unique text the contributors, of whom many are renowned experts in critical literacy and multiliteracies, provide readers with an overview of trends in literacy/English teacher education. The chapters begin with authors’ personal stories and current research, giving readers insight into the personal and professional worlds of the contributors. Included in each chapter is a rich description of approaches to literacy instruction in teacher education. These exemplary teacher educators show in concrete detail how they are addressing our evolving understanding of literacy . This timely text, written in a highly engaging style, will be of value to teacher educators throughout the world. I have never read anything quite like this book. It contains explicit representations of the conceptual frames and work of distinguished literacy teacher educators at various stages in their careers, accounts that provide a strong counter-narrative to the mainstream discourse in policy and education, that fully embrace the uncertainties and complexities of practice." From the Forward by Susan L. Lytle, Professor Emerita of Education in the Graduate School of Education, University of Pennsylvania NY: Routledge. Janks, H . (2000). Domination, access, diversity and design: a synthesis model for critical literacy education. Educational Review, 52(2), 175—186. Johnston , P. (2012). Opening minds : Using language to change lives ."