Pondering the significance of big and little or saving the whales: Discussions of narrative and expository text in fourth- and fifth-grade classrooms

This study investigated the nature of book discussions about expository and narrative texts in fourth- and fifth-grade classrooms. Eight teachers disc ussed one narrative (Amos & Boris, Steig, 1971) and one expository (Whales, Simon, 1989) picture book for a total of 16 small group discussions, which were audiotaped and transcribed. Literary and informational topics were di scussed most and were more evenly balanced during the eight discussions of Amos & Boils while informational topics emerged nearly twice as often durin g Whales discussions. Illustrations and intertextual connections appeared a s topics on a much smaller scale. Analysis of talk patterns revealed teache r dominance during discussion through a high percentage of questions asked, consistent initiation and control of the topics, and teacher repetitions o f student responses or teacher questions. Teachers' questions posed during the expository discussion were more literal than for the narrative text. St udent initiations tended to occur when provided the opportunity to write re sponses to their reading and share during discussions.