The kindergarten drama centre is a place where children recreate familiar play scenarios, explore new ideas and feelings, and engage deeply in learning (Schwartz & Copeland, 2010). Miller and Almon (2009) suggest that play is crucial to children’s development. However, play is often contested as parents question its relevance atschool (Ashiabi, 2007) and schools focus on academic achievementand readiness (Bodrova & Leong, 2003; Miller & Almon, 2009). Thispaper explores the author’s learning through reflecting on the successes and challenges of a bakery centre createdin her kindergarten classroom. The bakery became an excellent vehicle for strengthening students’ literacy and motor skills through play, but the impact varied greatly across students in the class. Further, assessment and planning enhancements to the bakery were significantly restricted by constraints on the time and attention the author could devote to them due to the dynamic classroom environment. The bakery also led to a rethinking of the learning agenda in the classroom.

Recent changes in the Ontario curricular expectations for teaching and learning have led the author to re-examine some of her teaching practices, particularly in oral language learning.  In this article, the author explores what learning through talk looks like, sounds like and feels like from the kindergarten teacher’s perspective. By inquiring into her own practice, drawing from the literature on classroom talk in the early years, and critically reflecting on vignettes of classroom talk as well as a teaching journal, the author as kindergarten teacher challenges her own assumptions about talk to gain a deeper understanding of its role in a kindergarten classroom. The vignettes, reflective writing and teaching journal act as signposts that map a growing understanding of talk as a tool for learning. These stories help to ground the discussion about talk in practice as well as theory, and provide insights into the challenges and opportunities of using talk for learning in kindergarten.