Talk in my Kindergarten Classroom

The talk in my Kindergarten classroom is very limited, and will always be limited. Kindergarten, in my opinion, would not be the most favorable age to begin bringing discussion into the classroom because even recitation is very, very hard for our CT to control and stressful for us TE students to witness. We have two situations in which there is discourse between our CT and the class. One is where they are supposed to be quiet and not talking because either our CT is teaching or reading a story. During this time there is always someone whining, poking, flailing, laying on another student, sneezing, getting up to use the restroom, tattling on another student, or making comments such as, "Guess what I'm going to be for Halloween next year?!" Situation two is where there is recitation and students shout out answers, do not raise their hands, have raised hands but have no answer, are called on and then repeat what someone said a few seconds before hand, and everything else that is mentioned above. Before even recitation can begin, our Kindergarteners need to master sitting quietly and raising their hands. Classroom management skills are needed first in our Kindergarten class in order to proceed to other forms of talk. Our Kindergarteners are still unfamiliar with the protocol of the classroom, they still feel as their behavior at home and their behavior at school is one in the same. With 31 Kindergarteners it is also hard to make sure each and every one of them is progressing and not causing a disturbance. Most of what our Kindergarteners learn each day is how one is supposed to act while in school.

For response centered talk in any classroom to take place, there are many factors that are needed. One of the points that is taken from the McGee (1996) article that I find the most beneficial is that the students must be willing to talk about what they are thinking and must know that they will not be ridiculed in front of their peers. Even at a young age, I can sense that some students are hesitant about answering questions in class because a certain student in our class may laugh if they are incorrect. In fact, in Kindergarten, some begin crying. As mentioned in discussion today, the books that are chosen are needed to be chosen wisely by the teacher. For my literature lesson plan, I would most likely choose a literature book that would get the students thinking about emotions and prior life experiences. Kindergarteners love to share stories and if they are able to see themselves in a book, or picture themselves in the main character's shoes they would be more apt to behaving because each would want to share their story with us. I also would be wise and choose a book that had a social justice theme involved to see how my diverse Kindergarten classroom would respond. Would they be able to pick up on the actions taking place? The emotions that the characters portray? I am very interested in seeing how a well picked book would be able to foster good recitation between the teacher and students.