1. “Empowering Children and Teachers Through Meaningful Conversations”
Sample Slides
University of Florida Lastinger Center
Early Learning Louisiana
Karen Molinario
Pam Crook
Christine Roberts

2. What’s in a Picture?
Think about a meaningful or supportive conversation that you recently had. What are some of the characteristics that made it so?
Choose a photo that captures your thinking about meaningful or supportive conversations.
Share with a partner
Large Group Debrief-Chart words or phrases you heard in your sharing.

3. Objectives
Identify strategies to prompt thought processes in children and adults
Apply protocols that promote focused and productive learning conversations with adults

4. Quality of Feedback: Expansion and Extension with Infants and Toddlers
Responding to and building on children's language is important for developing their language
Model language using a few more words than young children are using
Both expansions and extensions are effective strategies to help children move from saying 1-2 words to combining more words and learn new concepts and word
Expansions expand on what a child says and model grammatically correct complete sentences
Extensions add new information to what the child says
Young children benefit from extensions and expansions by learning new vocabulary and language skills.

5. Prompting thought processes in preschoolers
Ask questions to extend the conversation and expand on thoughts.
When children’s thoughts are valued, they are likely more eager to take risks and share their thoughts in the future.
These meaningful conversations will help their cognitive skills grow by teaching children to describe what’s going on inside his or her mind.
When children are asked to explain their thought processes, what you are asking them to do is to think about their thinking.
Thought provoking and open-ended questions encourage children to use higher-order thinking skills and take an active role in their own learning.
The ability to have a meaningful conversation will allow them to communicate effectively, building meaningful relationships, and help boost their careers.

6. Now that we have looked at strategies that empower children to expand and extend on their thinking, let’s look at some ways to do this with adults.

7. Positively Positive
Encourages teachers to explain their connection between the key practice and the impact it will have on teaching and learning by asking a deeper question.
Mirror back what the teacher says to reinforce its importance.

8. Tools to Support Meaningful Conversations with Adults
Protocols offer structured processes to support focused and productive conversations, build collective understanding, and encourage teachers to reflect on their practice within the context of Communities of Practice (CoPs).

9. Protocols used in Early Learning Louisiana
Tuning Protocol-used to examine CDA Competency Statement
Atlas Protocol-used to examine CLASS Observation results

10. Scenarios: “What’s Your Line?
Read your scenario and determine how you would respond
What’s your line?”
Partner up and share your scenario and response

11. Protocols used in Early Learning Louisiana CoPs
Look at your photos from opening activity, share additional characteristics (new ideas learned today) you want to remember when interacting with children and/or adults to make conversations meaningful.
Find your partner from opening activity and share your thoughts.

12. Implementation: Double-Take
Look at your photos from opening activity, share additional characteristics (new ideas learned today) you want to remember when interacting with children and/or adults to make conversations meaningful.
Find your partner from opening activity and share your thoughts.

13. CDA Classes begin July 15!
100% on-line with instructor support and CoPs
See us after the presentation for more details or us at

14. Inspirational Quote
Choose a quote and add to ppt.