I enjoy the challenge of teaching students how to read and write. Partly, because each student is unique in their instructional needs and this allows me to keep my mind active. I was working with a student this past weekend, listening to him read and assisting him with words that were just beyond his ability to read independently. Part of the challenge is that I am not sure what instruction he has received for the words just beyond his ability to read independently. Some reading instruction teaches straight phonics, some teaches a blended or a combination of both phonics and whole word, and some teaches straight whole word. And most teachers emphasize different parts or have different “tricks” from their past environmental interactions that they add to the curriculum to increase the absorption of the curriculum during instruction. Which is part of the challenge that I enjoy.
When he came upon a word that he couldn’t read, I listened to how he was “examining” or trying to figure the word out. I learned that he does have some phonics training, in that he knows the sound of individual letters within the words. I also learned that he probably does not know vowel blends. I also learned that he probably does not know all of the different sounds that each letter can make depending on how the letters are placed within the word. To confirm some of my observational notes, I asked him questions? Some of the questions were related to the whole word, most were related to the individual letters and the possible sounds that each letter could make. One question was, what sound does the letters “ow” make? Another question was, what sound does this letter make? To further confirm my analysis, I had him segment phonic words into individual letter sounds, like c / a / t. This knowledge helped me to “scaffold” my instruction to meet his learning level needs.
Scaffolding instruction means, “a supportive instructional structure that teachers use to provide the appropriate mechanisms for a student to complete a task that is beyond their unassisted abilities” (Ray, 2017, p.14). I will further define this term in my next blog.
References
Ray, J. (2017). Tiered 2 interventions for students in grades 1-3 identified as at risk in reading. (Doctoral dissertation, Walden University). Retrieved from https://scholarworks.waldenu.edu/dissertations/3826
