How should a teacher respond when a student makes off-base guesses about meaning in a literary text because that learner is trying to genuinely understand the story rather than find the "right" meaning? Aukerman argues that when teachers jump in to correct students' interpretations, they short-circuit students' processes of reading and thinking. Aukerman describes a discussion among 5th graders in which a teacher refrained from correcting a boy's misinterpretation of the word beast. The teacher allowed the kids to mine the text for meaningful clues instead, as they argued about whether the donkey was a savage monster or just a large animal. With the authentic purpose of convincing one another, students looked to the text--not the teacher--for answers. The author calls this kind of textual discussion through which students come to their own interpretations as a group Shared Evaluation Pedagogy. She provides evidence that the practice increases students' comprehension and thinking skills. (Contains 1 figure.)