Opening Minds : Using Language to Change Lives

"Introducing a spelling test to a student by saying, 'Let's see how many words you know,' is different from saying, 'Let's see how many words you know already.' It is only one word, but the already suggests that any words the child knows are ahead of expectation and, most important, that there is nothing permanent about what is known and not known." - Peter Johnston Sometimes a single word changes everything. In his groundbreaking book Choice Words, Peter Johnston demonstrated how the things teachers say (and don't say) have surprising consequences for the literate lives of students. Now, in Opening Minds: Using Language to Change Lives, Peter shows how the words teachers choose affect the worlds students inhabit in the classroom, and ultimately their futures. He explains how to engage children with more productive talk and to create classrooms that support not only students' intellectual development, but their development as human beings. Grounded in research, Opening Minds: Using Language to Change Livesshows how words can shape students' learning, their sense of self, and their social, emotional and moral development. Make no mistake: words have the power to open minds or close them.

Peter H. Johnston (PhD, University of Illinois) is a professor of education and chair of the Reading Department at the University at Albany/SUNY. His position as an advocate for teachers and children developed from his early career, teaching primary school in his native New Zealand. He is a recipient of the Albert J. Harris Award for his contribution to the understanding of reading disability, and in 2005 he was elected to the Reading Hall of Fame. Peter is the author of Choice Words: Flow Our Language Affects Children's Learning. His continuing interest is in education as it relates to a democratic society.