Leslie Richmond, Melissa Pedraza's mentor, explains how children have progressed into being able to carry on conversations with each other about books and the relationship of books to their lives (1:21 min, MB Quicktime). If you cannot see this video, click here for a smaller version.

  
 
You can see children using evidence from the book: that's an amazing development. In the beginning [of the year], they weren't even able to retell a portion of the story. Now they have an idea, a theory, and they give evidence from the book. And kids are finding appropriate ways of asking clarifying questions. They're getting involved in what a discussion is.