Chapter 4 and Text Talk

Text talks are very helpful in student comprehension and retention of the material. I can’t imagine doing a read aloud and not doing a text talk. They really get the students’ minds working, which gets background knowledge popping up in their heads. If a student can make connections to the text it can help a great deal with comprehension. When you ask the student questions about the read, you are able to keep them engaged and attentive while, at the same time, gauging their comprehension of the material. Text talk also helps students form thoughts in their minds and express them orally with the rest of the students. This can help other students or the instructor form a connection in their mind. Text talks helps students begin to infer meaning and predict what could happen next. I have also read in the article where the pictures in the book can deter student learning. I believe the positives outweigh the negatives. Pictures are extremely helpful in getting students excited and interested in the read. I believe if you can get students truly interested in something you have won half of the battle. Although pictures can sometimes get students sidetracked, books without illustrations would be very boring for primary students. It’s really not that complicated to show the picture beforehand if it represents something that can be inferred or predicted. Otherwise, save the picture until after the passage is read. I believe text talk and read alouds should be used in all grades and subject areas.