In this article, we address the ways children collaborate to inquire about text in the context of group discussions, addressing the question: How do students stay on-topic and sustain their discussions of text? We speculate that a framework for dialogic discourse, referred to as exploratory talk, allows students to understand that discussions of…

In the context of an imagined symposium, this article addresses the literacy practices of elementary students ranging from first through sixth grade. The arguments the students make throughout the symposium, as well as the practices they relate, are drawn from arts-based literacy research conducted by the two authors. The imagined symposium begins…

Drama is unique in providing an (inter)active context wherein participants can comprehend and stretch the limits of their day-to-day realities through the embodiment of critical reflection and both rehearsed and improvised action. The purpose of this article is to provide evidence from the authors' work as teachers, drama facilitators, and…

The article details the transformation of one literature discussion group reading the story, Felita, by Nicholosa Mohr. The research study documented the process of implementing literature discussion groups with multicultural children's literature in a fourth grade English language arts classroom. Through a discussion of a critical incident in the…