Abstract
This article described experiences of participation in whole-class discussion among children in lower elementary school grades. Observations of interactions during moral education classes in a 2^<nd> grade class offered a detailed description of micro-processes of the interaction whereby whole-class discussion was introduced to the class. The focus was on situations where the teacher intervened or modified behaviors of children who were speaking. An analysis was made of how the teacher directed interactions by modifying children's behavior and how the children reacted to the teacher. The teacher's modifications were directed toward the following aspects of the speakers' utterances : (1) addressee, (2) audibility, and (3) visibility to the addressee. Examination of the verbal and non-verbal behavior of the teacher and the children revealed that by introducing "everyone" as the addressee, modification by the teacher was pivotal in changing the participation structure of the ongoing communication. It was also notable that children sometimes experienced difficulty adjusting to changes in the participation structure.
