Engaging Children in Meaningful Conversation

Standards

The content of this tutorial aligns with Massachusetts standards and guidelines.

Massachusetts Quality Rating and Improvement System (QRIS)

Center and School Based:

• Curriculum and Learning 1A: Curriculum, Assessment, and Diversity: Level 2 Program uses screening tools, progress reports, formative assessments, and information gathered through observation to set goals for individual children across all developmental domains; Staff demonstrate language and literacy skills either in English or the child's language that provide a model for children.           
• Curriculum and Learning 1B: Teacher-Child Relationships and Interactions: Level 2 All staff receive orientation and ongoing formal professional development and supervision in how to support positive relationships and interactions through positive, warm and nurturing interactions.
• Curriculum and Learning 1B: Teacher-Child Relationships and Interactions: Level 3 Staff engage children in meaningful conversations, use open-ended questions and provide opportunities throughout the day to scaffold their development of more complex receptive and expressive language, support children’s use of language to share ideas, problem solve and have positive peer interactions.
• Curriculum and Learning 1B: Teacher-Child Relationships and Interactions: Level 4 Staff utilizes teaching strategies that ensure a positive classroom environment, engage children in learning and promote critical thinking skills.

Family Child Care:

• Curriculum and Learning 1B: Teacher-Child Relationships and Interactions: Level 2 Educator has participated in formal professional development on how to support positive relationships and interactions with children through positive, warm and nurturing interactions.
• Curriculum and Learning 1B: Teacher-Child Relationships and Interactions: Level 4 Educators engage children in meaningful conversations, as age and developmentally appropriate, use open- ended questions and provide opportunities throughout the day to scaffold their language to support the development of more complex receptive and expressive language, support children's use of language to share ideas, problem solve and have positive peer interactions; Educators utilize teaching strategies that ensure a positive learning environment, engage children in learning and promote critical thinking skills.

National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC)

Guidelines for Developmentally Appropriate Practice:

• (2) Teaching to enhance development and learning B.2 Teachers continually gather information about children in a variety of ways and monitor each child’s learning and development to make plans to help children progress.
• (2) Teaching to enhance development and learning E.4 Teachers provide experiences, materials, and interactions to enable children to engage in play that allows them to stretch their boundaries to the fullest in their imagination, language, interaction, and self-regulation as well as to practice their newly acquired skills.
• (2) Teaching to enhance development and learning F.2 To stimulate children’s thinking and extend their learning, teachers pose problems, ask questions, and make comments and suggestions.
• (2) Teaching to enhance development and learning F.3 To extend the range of children’s interests and the scope of their thought, teachers present novel experiences and introduce stimulating ideas, problems, experiences, or hypotheses.
• (2) Teaching to enhance development and learning F.6 To enhance children’s conceptual understanding, teachers use various strategies, including intensive interview and conversation, that encourage children to reflect on and “revisit” their experiences.
• (2) Teaching to enhance development and learning G.1 Teachers recognize and respond to the reality that in any group, children’s skills will vary and they will need different levels of support. Teachers also know that any one child’s level of skill and need for support will vary over time.
• (2) Teaching to enhance development and learning G.2 Scaffolding can take a variety of forms; for example, giving the child a hint, adding a cue, modeling the skill, or adapting the materials and activities. It can be provided in a variety of contexts, not only in planned learning experiences but also in play, daily routines, and outdoor activities.
• (3) Planning curriculum to achieve important goals A.1 Teachers consider what children should know, understand, and be able to do across the domains of physical, social, emotional, and cognitive development and across the disciplines, including language, literacy, mathematics, social studies, science, art, music, physical education, and health.
• (3) Planning curriculum to achieve important goals D.1 Teachers plan curriculum experiences that integrate children’s learning within and across the domains (physical, social, emotional, cognitive) and the disciplines (including language, literacy, mathematics, social studies, science, art, music, physical education, and health).
• (4) Assessing children’s development and learning C There is a system in place to collect, make sense of, and use the assessment information to guide what goes on in the classroom (formative assessment). Teachers use this information in planning curriculum and learning experiences and in moment-to- moment interactions with children—that is, teachers continually engage in assessment for the purpose of improving teaching and learning.

Massachusetts Curriculum Framework for English Language Arts and Literacy

Speaking and Listening Standards for Pre-Kindergarteners:

• Comprehension and Collaboration MA.1 Participate in collaborative conversations with diverse partners during daily routines and play.
• Comprehension and Collaboration MA.1.a Observe and use appropriate ways of interacting in a group (e.g., taking turns in talking, listening to peers, waiting to speak until another person is finished talking, asking questions and waiting for an answer, gaining the floor in appropriate ways).
• Comprehension and Collaboration MA.1.b Continue a conversation through multiple exchanges.