Collaboration: This is a term used by Vygotsky to refer to the relationships between the teacher and the student in cases where the teacher provides support such as modelling, explaining, and eliciting ideas from the student.

Educational dialogue: An educational dialogue occurs when the teacher asks questions in order to guide students toward a specific goal they have for the activity. In this way, the teacher can model strategies and see how much support the child might need to complete the task. 

Sustained shared thinking: Sustained shared thinking describes the meaningful interactions or conversations between teachers and students which support their learning during play.

Educative play: This idea assumes that children need support from teachers and peers to support their learning while they are engaged in play. 

Double move: This notion considers how teachers might keep in mind the relationship between everyday and scientific concept formation (Hedegaard & Chaiklin 2005). The teacher who is able to explicitly connect the children’s everyday experiences in the home and community with the scientific concepts taught in school has adopted this double move. For example, the teacher is engaged in guided reading with a child and they are reading a book about different kinds of celebrations. She might ask the child to describe some important celebrations in their family. Then, as the child reads, she can connect the child’s experiences with specific words or terms in the story book. 
 
Combinatorial activity: Vygotsky explained that children might abstract particular experiences from the environment and combine them in ways that provide new meanings, insights, or objects. For example, a child who watches his parents driving the family car around to do errands re-enacts this activity in his play. However, he also adds new elements to this activity and creates new meanings. 

Learning play: The idea that children engage in combinatorial activity expands our understanding of “learning play”. That is, children do not simply learn through their interactions with adults during play. They also construct their own meanings and understandings.

Provocation: Provocations are widely used in Reggio Emilia inspired programs to “provoke” or invite children’s explorations and constructions of meaning. By asking questions and initiating conversations during children’s interactions with the provocation, teacher and child can co-construct understandings which lead to future explorations or projects.