Dialogic pedagogy, in which students and teachers voice thoughts, co-construct meanings, and generate multiple interpretations of texts, can promote literacy skills and reasoning. Yet, such teaching is challenging and requires, among other changes, adopting dialogic stances. In the language arts, expressive and critical reading stances have been…

In many literacy classrooms, students engage in public performances in which they use various texts, movements of their bodies, and verbal interactions. How do we interpret such events? In this article, we critique a representational mode of interpretation and describe an alternate mode. We argue that literacy performances are often about creating…

Analyzes the effort of a small group of high school seniors to interpret the character of Laertes in Shakespeare's "Hamlet" through a "body biography," a life-sized human outline they filled with images and words representing their understanding of the character. Examines their discussion as they composed their text. (PA)

Explores the interpretive processes of 12 sixth-grade pupils, using the recorded interview technique. Concludes that readers use the processes of reproduction, inquiry, emotional reaction, rational judgment, appreciation, association, and illumination, and that the nature of the reading material influences the types of interpretive responses. (VJ)