"You don't think that hearing and listening are the same?"
"Sometimes they are, sometimes they're not."
"When aren't they?"
"You can hear someone speak, yes? Does that mean you have to be listening to him precisely?"
"No, sometimes it's just sound."
"Right. If you hear a word spoken, but are not listening, that's all it is. A sound. But if you are listening, you hear words as words, as segments of thought."
"I see. Alright, you have a point. But which strand should be central, then, if not listening?"
"A good question. Any thoughts?"
"Here we go again, Socrates. Alright, how about Creating and Shaping Texts?"
"What does that require kids to know before they get to that level?"
"Hmmm. They need to know how to write."
"And what does that mean?"
"What do you mean what does that mean?"
"What do you think of as writing?"
"Oh, well, let's see. They have to know the alphabet."
"And?"
"And how to form the letters of the alphabet."
"And?"
"And how those letters fit together."
"And?"
"And how those letters sound separately and together. But..."
"But what?"
"But which comes first?"
"Which what?"
"Learning how to read and say the letters, and then the words, or how to write the letters?"
"All three."
"All three what?"
"Reading is a type of understanding. Writing is a type of understanding. Listening is a type of understanding."
"But can't you read without understanding what you're reading? Or write letters even if you don't know what they are? Or listen without... no, we already discussed that last one."
"True. You can read, write, even speak letters without immediately, or ever, understanding them."
"Isn't that four then?"
"How so?"
"Well, Understanding seems to be the common thread there."
"Good point. It is indeed. It's probably the key."
"Is that the center strand then?"
"Well, if you look at the strands, there is no Understanding by itself."
"What's the closest thing then?"
"How about Engaging with and Responding to Texts?"
"That's higher level based on listening, reading, writing."
"I agree."
"That goes for all the others, too: Drama, Understanding and Interpreting Texts, Engaging with and Responding to Texts, Text Structure and Organization, and Presentation."
"You've left out three."
"Right. There's Sentence Structure and Punctuation, but that's still higher level, if not on the same plain."
"Two to go."
"Word Recognition and Word Structure and Spelling, Strands 5 and 6. Those can't be the centerpiece strands, can they?"
"Why not?"
"Well, because they're so basic."
"Exactly."
"Ahhhh."