For many years, teachers and researchers have known that students learn better and their learning lasts longer in language-intensive classrooms . No matter what the subject, the people who read it, write it, and talk it are the ones who learn it best. To give students a better learning environment, dramatic changes are needed in how language is used to learn and in what classrooms look and sound like. Students working together on a unit of study talk with their peers, listen for areas of agreement and mutual understanding, negotiate joint goals and plans, read resource materials, prepare written notes for personal use and for sharing with others, jointly draft a group paper, and prepare oral presentations to share their learning with their class or other audiences.
Students sit in circles or other clusters, sometimes with their teacher as one member of the group.
The students set questions to guide future discussion and study. Questions for investigation are as likely to be asked by the students as by the teacher. Students may play an active role in choosing topics for study. Students may be reading different materials and pursuing questions and topics. They will also decide how to share what they are learning with their peers.