Choice Words Book Study

Location: CANVAS Online Platform

Instructor: Amber Socaciu, ELA Specialist, NGRESA

Cost: $0 in-area fee/$25 out-of-area fee

Target Audience: K-12 Teachers

PLUs: 2- Must attend all meeting times to receive PLUs

This course will focus on learning about how we use language to communicate with students

using the book Choice Words: How Our Language Affects Children’s Learning by Peter H.

Johnston. Use this course and this book to learn how to empower children through language so

they may become strategic thinkers. This book will be enlightening for any teacher who wishes

to be more conscious of the many ways their language helps children acquire literacy skills and

view the world, their peers, and themselves in new ways.

Required Text: Johnston, Peter H. (2004). Choice words: how language affects children’s learning. Portland ME: Stenhouse.

• a) consider how the language used in the classroom and the feedback given develops students’ perspectives and identities
• b) consider how we help students develop a narrative that invites a sense of agency
• c) examine teacher talk that serves to encourage transfer and flexibility
• d) consider shifts in classroom conversations to encourage open, public communication
• e) consider changing your words to change your views