literacy instruction

Inferencing is Like Being a Detective

Your mind automatically inferences, deduces, concludes, reasons things all day. If there is light in the room it must be after 6:00am or if the sun is setting it must be around 8:00pm. At times during the day we may consciously focus on a situation to infer the meaning of the situation. We may wonder why a person was frowning or talking very loudly during our conversation. To do this, we usually review other interactions that we’ve had with this individual. We may review things that others have said about this individual. We may review the inference of other similar situations. Then we might begin to infer our present interaction with this individual. Merriam-Webster (2020) describes inference as “a conclusion or opinion that is formed because of known facts or evidence.” You are playing detective examining unseen and seen information, such as a picture or a group of words and analyzing your examination against your current stored information—what you already know to build a conclusion. You are “deep reading” the story looking between the lines or behind the scenes of the words or pictures or situation to form an inference. Many individuals learn how to infer naturally through their environment and will be able to infer or comprehend what the picture or words are trying to convey. Some students will need explicit, purposeful instruction to learn and practice the skill. Below are some examples of inferencing.

Example one, an individual should be able to infer the questions below about this poem by Valerie Danoff.

Jelly Bean

Jelly, jelly, jelly beans.

Belly, belly, belly beans.

Orange, white, black, green

Red, blue, yellow bean.

Many, many can be seen!

All the colors in between.

From one to many beans.

Guess how many jelly beans?

Based on your culture was this poem written by a female or male? How do you believe that the writer feels about jelly beans? How do you think that jelly beans are shaped? What color do you think a jelly bean is? What is a jelly bean? Is a jelly bean a type of food? Why is the poem asking me to guess how many jelly beans there are? Individuals who know what a jelly bean is would be able to answer these questions without much thought or examination of the poem. Those who do not know what a jelly belly is would have to examine the words of the poem to gather the information to infer the previous questions, such as:

- - - - look at the spelling of each word
      - look at the meaning of each word
      - analyze how the words are joined together to form the sentence
      - look at the punctuation used
      - look at word usage-repetition
      - look at how the lines of the poem are related

Example two, when you look at a picture your brain is examining the different parts of the picture and analyzing the information against your stored information to understand the meaning of the picture—not just the seen information, but the unseen information as well. When examining this “pumpkin” picture if you know that many people carve pumpkins at Halloween or if you knew the growing season for pumpkins, you could infer that this picture was taken in the fall. You could also infer that this picture was taken in field where the pumpkins and other crops might be grown. You might infer that pumpkins get their nutrients through their stem. You might infer that someone put them in groups by size. You might infer that this may be a place where you could buy pumpkins or that they were getting ready for market. And so on.

Example 3, when an individual is having an in-person or virtual (where you can see them) conversation, we are usually inferencing to comprehend the conversation. We are listening to their oral words-the tone, the inflections and using our personal knowledge of what is being said to understand the spoken words. We are also watching and examining (unconsciously) their body language-hands, arms, facial expressions and maybe even their clothing for possible clues that may help us to form a better understanding of their words.

Students should be purposely taught how to infer, deduce, conclude, or reason throughout their schooling, beginning in the preschool years. The complexity of the instruction should follow the achievement of the student. This skill can be taught within most subject matter. Most students enjoy being a detective to learn about a subject matter or to answer a burning question that they may have related to the subject matter.

Composing Coherent Sentences

Many young writers may get “stuck” or have writer’s block when it comes to putting words on paper. Some of the block comes from their ability to organize verbal words and thoughts into coherent sentences that convey the exact meaning that they are wanting you to understand. Another block maybe that some students can verbalize a complete sentence, but struggle to write the same sentence on paper. Some student block comes from wanting the sentence to be perfect the first time, as many students do not care for the process of editing their writing. In my 20 plus years in education I have yet to met a student who didn’t want to be able write, many need to learn tools to ease the process. This can be a hard and daunting process for many students.

Syntax* is the study of sentence structure. There can be different variations of a sentence. Some sentences may have more or less words than the sentence before or after it. Words in the sentence can be shuffled around and placed in a different order. Some sentences provide more detail. Reading passages with complete sentences may help the writer to better understand how to put sentences together. Reading passages of different writing styles may also increase student writing ability. The writer may also see how word order may change the meaning of the sentence. Learning to write is similar to learning how to speak, as the writer is mimicking the writing of others.

Instruction of writing sentences should begin simple, for example a sentence must have a noun and a verb to be a complete sentence. This usually begins in Pre-K or Kindergarten. The complexity of the sentence should grow with student ability and grade level. Some students will learn through their natural environment how to increase the complexity of a sentence. Most will need to be explicitly taught appropriate grade level techniques and rules of generating a complete sentence.

There are different instructional approaches that can be used to teach students sentence structure. Some are noted below.
1. Use sentence starters. I like ____________. I can ____________.
2. Cut up a sentence into individual words and have students put them in the correct order. Or have students develop sentences using a “word bank” (like flashcards) of many individual words. Then have students write those sentences on paper or whiteboards.
3. Students write a simple sentence, like The boy ran. Then students may add different types of words or detail to make the sentence more complex and interesting, such as adding an adjective about the boy’s age or their hair color.
4. White boards. I often have students generate sentences on whiteboards, while I am modeling a sentence. This helps to keep them engaged. And I can observe student ability and comprehension of the current lesson.
5. Sentence study. Use mentor text that features the style or sentence complexity that you are encouraging students to use in their writing. Discuss the different features of the mentor text. Students can find different parts of a sentence. Students can also diagram sentences.
6. Develop a word list. This can be a simple column of words that help to describe the subject. I like to develop word webs that help to describe the topic. Students can also develop a list of nouns and verbs about the subject. Students use the word lists to generate sentences.
7. Students analyze their writing, editing. Are there capital letters at the beginning of the sentence? Does the sentence end with an appropriate punctuation? Is there a noun and a verb? Could I add a describing word, adverb or adjective? How many nouns does the sentence have? How many verbs does the sentence have?
8. Student sharing. This allows students to use their writing as a model for other students. This may also give other students incentive to begin. In addition, classmates can point out the positive points of their writing.
9. Give students a diagram or word order to use during an exercise. There are many different variations to a sentence, remember start simple then build the complexity of the sentence(s). Here are a few examples that were described by Dr. Laud (2018) in a webinar titled, Vocabulary, sentence, and micro-discourse strategies for writing! Noun + verb; noun + verb + where phrase; noun + adverb + verb + when phrase; adjective + noun + verb + where + but + noun + verb.
10. Teacher modeling, teacher modeling, teacher modeling-use all subject matters to model complete sentences.
11. During collaboration with a student about their writing, I often find a sentence that may need some more detail and ask the student to add a word(s). Not all students are ready for this type of feedback or challenge. In some cases, you may have to assist them or model how you might increase the complexity of the sentence before sending them away to work independently. Other students can also assist students or give them ideas of how they might include other details in their sentence(s) to make the sentence more interesting. This grows student writing ability
12. I often tell students that I want to feel like I am there. This helps to drive the complexity and detail of the sentence. What does it feel like? What does it smell like when I take a breath? What does it look like? What am I hearing? Have them verbal discuss the detail with you or another student. This helps them organize their thoughts and put them on paper. This can be a very hard task for writers!
Learning how to write can be hard, but teaching others how to write may be even harder.

*Pillar 5 of structured literacy instruction is syntax or the study of sentence structure. The principles that dictate the sequence and function of words in a sentence. These principles are also referred to as the mechanics, grammar, and variation of a sentence.

References
Haynes, C. and Laud, L. (2018). Vocabulary, sentence, and micro-discourse strategies for writing! International Dyslexia Association conference webinar.

Engaging the Learner to Write

The next few blogs will be about writing. This first blog will resonate more with online or at-home learning, as we as nation contend with COVID-19.

Writing is not a natural skill; it is a learned skill. Writing is hard work, as students are developing the brain processing connections that allow them to put coherent words on a page. Students should write every day to develop those brain connections. I like to disguise the practice of writing into assignments or tasks that seem relevant and fun. I often use science as a means to get students engaged in the task of writing. The following are ideas that can be used to get students writing every day.

Read a book about an animal or other topic that they may enjoy. When I was with a group of Grade 1 students, we had about 10 minutes of “extra time” before we needed to be at the cafeteria for lunch. So, I took a short book about worms of the classroom library shelf, read the book to them and conducted a short whole classroom discussion about student experiences with worms. Students then wrote a couple of sentences about their experiences with worms. Some students had the time to begin drawing pictures to increase the comprehension of their written words. While they were writing I was able to remind students how to form a complete sentence.
Conduct an experiment. Write observational notes in complete sentences. Students also like to draw pictures to enhance their written description. I like to have students conduct experiments that may last a week or so, as this gives more opportunity to write about their observations. Students usually love to make things in the kitchen, which can provide a natural setting for collaboration, observation of changes, and why those changes may be taking place. Students also enjoy gardening or germinating plants.
Go on a bird walk. Students can write notes about bird habitats, the colors of the birds, the sounds they may make, etc.
Go on a hunt or walk looking for wild flowers. Students can write descriptive sentences about the flowers. Students can also add a sketch to increase their retention of the flower features.
Take a virtual tour of a museum about a topic that is of interest to the student(s). Students can take notes about specified information. Students can take notes about their observations. Observations are usually different, unique to the students and can increase student participation in classroom discussions about the tour.
Go on a bug hunt. Write notes about the bugs that you see along the way. Draw sketches of the bugs.
Analyzing pictures or art. (a) Have students analyze a picture and write complete sentences about things they noticed or questions that they have about the picture. (b) The picture can be used as a starting point for a story related to about the picture.
Write a summary of a written passage. This past school year I was with a group of Grade 4 students that struggled with the idea of summarizing a two-page story. So, you may have to break the passage into paragraphs and have students write a sentence about each paragraph. Once they have a sentence of each paragraph, students can put them into a paragraph format by adding a topic sentence and conclusion sentence. Ideally the instruction should go back to modeling how to interpret sentences within each paragraph to inform the summary sentence. The instruction may also need to include word meanings or other background knowledge about the topic.
Sharing student writing. I have not met a group of students that do not enjoy the act of sharing their masterpieces. The act of sharing is good for student self-esteem and for modeling possible sentences and format for their peers. Some classrooms use this time for student acclamations of correct usage of verbiage, punctuation, etc. I would greatly discourage negative comments by the teacher or their peers.
Take notes during a video. I usually specify the expectations of the notes, like notes must be written in complete sentences and you must have at least 10 sentences related to the video. I usually will ask a few students to read one of their sentences at the conclusion of the video. This can begin a video discussion and give struggling students the opportunity to write another sentence.
Keep a journal of what they are reading. Students can write a journal entry for each time they read. This helps the reader to better comprehend the passage read. Younger readers may need assistance in processing the read information into a summary. This also helps them to better retain the information read.
Writing in a journal. Students could also write a journal entry about specific topic. I used this for students in classroom that had a very diverse student ability. At times I would have them write their interpretation of a sentence, a poem, or even just a word. The journal itself was not graded on their mechanics or grammar, but on their ability to form complete paragraph(s). This freed the writer to focus on just putting words/sentences on the paper. On some days, I would have students read a sentence or paragraph aloud to the class for those students who were struggling with forming a sentence. At times I would write a sentence or two or a whole paragraph on the board to remind, reteach students how to form a paragraph. I like to have students help me form the sentences of the paragraph to increase the “buy in” or engagement of students.
Quick write. The student writes as much information about a specified topic as they can in a designated timeframe, usually 5 minutes. This may not be an exercise for all students, as some may shut down the process of writing altogether. I encourage using incentives or individual goals to increase the buy-in of this exercise. Again, the goal is put as many words on the page about the subject in complete sentences, not about mechanical or grammar.

Happy Writing!

Book Reading Activities

COVID-19 temporarily changed how we live our daily lives, in particular how we educate our youth. Most schools have gone to a “long-distant”, digital format to continue providing instruction and practice for students to continue their formal education. Students have more time to read and should be making this a top priority. This is one of the most important educational practices a student can do during this time. Students should be reading novels or books that have longer story lines. Students should be reading books closer to their reading ability. Many educational sites are offering free downloads of novels for students to read. Most school sites also have books that can be downloaded or read on-line. Students who are not used to reading written words on electronic devices may struggle at reading and processing the written words. So, this may make the process of reading and comprehending written words slower than normal.

The following options are possible exercises that students can do at home to increase reading achievement. Most of these options can be used with either non-fiction or fiction books. These practices usually increase student knowledge and cognition. The exercise of reading continues to strengthen and develop brain connections that increase student literacy abilities. These “brain muscles” should have regular exercise.

Keep a journal about what they have read each day or time they read. This journal can include pictures that convey a character or passage of what they have read.
Write a summary of each chapter, four to eight sentences. Writing a paragraph that has a topic sentence followed by detail sentences or sentences that describe the details of the chapter, and a conclusion sentence about the chapter.
Write a summary of the book. This summary should include details about the beginning, middle, and end. The amount of details that should be included in the summary will be different at each stage of the maturation process. Students can also include details about the major characters and pictures about the different settings and characters, etc.
Draw a picture of your favorite character(s). Students should include four or five colors to express the character. The process is especially helpful for younger students. I have taught many older students who also enjoy this process. Older students should be held accountable for writing about the picture. I often have students write a paragraph.
Described the main character(s). Students might describe what they look like, what the character(s)enjoy, what they don’t like, and how the character(s) spend their time.
Described the setting of the story. Students might describe one setting or several settings of a novel. Students might include pictures and written words to describe the setting of the story. Some of the information displayed by the students may be inferred information. This means that each written description or picture may be different, as we all have different backgrounds of knowledge.
Draw a picture of the setting or favorite scene in the book.
Describe the problem or climax of the book. This is something that not every student can grasp, some may need discussion to fully comprehend or pinpoint the problem or climax of the book.
Face-time (or contact through an electronic device) a relative, classmate, or friend to describe the plot of the story, character, chapter, etc.
Buddy read; this can be accomplished in different formats. Younger students can read aloud to higher level siblings, older students can read aloud to younger students. Students can read the same book, using an electronic device or a phone.
Read to a pet. Most students love to read to a pet.
Read aloud to self. This engages the hearing and well as the visual senses to process the written words. This is especially helpful to early or struggling readers.
Discuss what your reading with a classmate, parent, friend, or relative. This may need to take place using an electronic device.
Read with a parent. The student and parent take turns reading. They might read either every other line of a story, read every other paragraph of the story, or read every other page of the story. The format is usually dependent on student ability. I prefer reading every other paragraph.
Develop a 3-D model of your favorite setting or part of the book. The 3-D model can be made of play-dough, clay, wood, tin foil, beans, paper, or anything that you may have on hand.

Enjoy this time to read and explore, travel through books!

Teaching Sound-Symbol Correspondences

For me, a joy of teaching is watching a student realize that they have the power (the tools) to analyze and decode words into the correct sounds. This skill can be easy for some students to master, most will need instruction. The type and intensity of instruction will differ for each student. I suggest that all instruction should include practice in naming the letter and its sound(s). This practice should happen each day. Using cards that include picture(s) of an item that begins with the sound of the letter will increase the retention of the sound-symbol correspondences. There are other instructional strategies that can be used in addition to flashcards. Some of these instructional strategies are discussed in the following paragraph.

The following strategies include three of more of the five senses—hearing, touching, seeing, tasting, and smelling. The first strategy is to match cards of letters with cards that feature pictures of items that begin with the same sound as the letter. There should be pictures that represent all of the sounds that a letter can make, for example G…. /g/ /j/ or E…. /e/ /E/. Students says the letter and the beginning sound of the featured item when they the matched cards. The second strategy is using a white board and marker. Students write the letter, then say the sound. Or the teacher says the sound the student writes the letter. The third strategy is using sand. Colored maybe a better choice as this usually gives a better contrast and students tend to like color. Pour just enough sand to give about a fourth of an inch layer on a plate, on a table or on deep cookie sheet type container. Students write a letter in the sand and say the sound(s) of the letter. Or the teacher says the sound of the letter the student writes the letter. The fourth strategy is using pudding. This can be used in the same manner as the sand. This is a different texture. The fifth strategy is using play dough. Students use the play dough to form a letter(s). Students point to the formed letter and say its sound(s). The teacher can ask students to form letters by uttering its corresponding sound. Students can use pictures of the letter to help them form the letter. The sixth strategy is using music. Using video that includes sound that students can sing-a-long with or mimic increases the number of senses that students use. Using video that includes motions, along with music and pictures can increase the retention of letter and sound correspondences. The last strategy that I will included in this blog is using a grate (usually plastic). The grate is usually about the size of a piece of paper. The texture should be defined enough that when you place a piece of paper over it you can run a crayon over it to create a picture of the grate. The grate can be used in a few ways. Students trace the letter with their index finger, while saying its sound. Students place a piece of paper on the grate and write a letter using a crayon. Students then say the letters’ corresponding sound(s).

Sound-symbol correspondences or the relationship(s) between phoneme(s) and grapheme(s) are Pillar 2 of Structure Literacy Instruction. This may be referred to as phonics instruction that teaches predictable or the constant rules of sound-symbol correspondences to produce written language. At this stage students learn one-on-one correspondence, for example the written letter B represents this phoneme or sound. It is important to note that some letters are represented by more than one sound, depending on the origin and spelling of the word. Students begin decoding and encoding words as they begin to learn the sound-symbol correspondences. Student knowledge of the phoneme(s) and grapheme(s) relationships usually increases student ability to read, comprehend, and spell written language.

Book Review-The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind

This is a book review of The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind. This is an example of a book that would be good to use during book clubs or a whole classroom group study.

Science in general has always been a fascination of mine, this may have stemmed from my childhood in rural America living on a ranch. However, I have used science as a catalyst over the years to teach literacy. I have yet to find a student who is not curious about something within science. When I was looking for a book about STEM education the book, The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind by William Kamkwamba and Bryan Mealer, jumped off the shelf at me. The title screams STEM education. STEM Education is learning about subjects within the disciplines of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. STEM education is taught through an integrated approach; one that offers hands-on and relevant learning experiences. The book is non-fiction and suggested for ages 10 and up or about Grade 5.

The book is about a boy, William Kamkwamba and how his creativity brought life-long changes for the small nation of Malawi, Africa. The book, written in first person, recalls how his family adjusted their lifestyle to survive during a famine. William describes the setting and culture of Malawi. He also describes the effects on humanity during a famine. He discusses how he recognized the need to develop ways to overcome the lack of rain that caused the famine. William describes how he used exploration to develop a contraption to collect and reissue electricity. He also describes the resources and individuals that helped him to obtain his goal of providing water year-round.

The Benefits of Book Clubs

A book club, a group of individuals that read and learn from activities related to a book, should be structured to meet the needs of the participants. A book club might meet once a month or daily. Students may choose the book club to join or the teacher might develop the book club. A book club may be comprised of two or more individuals. The number participants for each club will affect the possible activities and intimacy of the group. The types of activities that can be incorporated into a book club are endless. Developing a weekly calendar of book club activities may be helpful, like Monday—read aloud, Tuesday—collaborate. Book clubs are typically introduced around Grade 3. Although, I have worked with groups of Kindergartens that would have benefited from book clubs or small group instruction using a book.

Choosing books for book clubs can challenging. Understanding what type of information, you would like students to glean from the book can be helpful. Asking and answering a few questions before making the final decision may also be helpful. Questions like, Who will enjoy or become engaged in this book? Or What type of information will students learn from this book? Will the information be black and white or will students have to inference the meaning? What is the purpose of this book choice?

Students can benefit from book clubs in multiple ways—a few are described below.

Improve reading fluency. Students usually have an opportunity to take turns reading aloud, listening to group members read, and to following along as others read. Some groups of students will be able to accomplish the task of reading aloud others may need a “coach” or teacher to facilitate.
Broaden and deepen their vocabulary bank. Students are usually introduced to “new “or unfamiliar words in each book that they read. Teachers can pre-teach words before they read. Students can identify and write the meaning of new words during tasks related to book clubs. Students may benefit from learning the synonyms and antonyms of the new word. Students may also benefit from attaching a picture to the new word. The new words can be added to a “dictionary” for them to use as reference later. Student discussions related to the “new” word(s) can increase the clarity of the meaning and retention of the word meaning.
Improve comprehension of written words. It is important to note that “a word may produce all degrees of erroneous meaning for a given context, from a slight inadequacy to an extreme perversion” (Thorndike, 1917). Every student will gain different information or insight from a book, as every student has a different environmental background. Some students will need to learn the meaning of words before reading to be able to comprehend the words within the book, others will not need this information to digest the words. Group discussions about the meaning of a passage or book usually increases comprehension.
Develop better writing skills. Students can learn and practice how to formulate written responses to questions related to the passage or book. Students can journal their thoughts or a summary related to the reading.
Improve oral verbiage skills. Students can learn the correct pronunciation of words. Students may learn how to have a “healthy”, but respectful discussion about the book. Students can learn how to formulate questions to ask during collaborative work. Students can also learn how to digest others’ opinions or facts into new questions.
Development or improvement of research skills. Students may develop research skills through activities related to book clubs. Students may learn where to find information related to the book, like where to find words meanings or what are windmills. Students can formulate questions related to the book and then interview another person who is knowledgeable about the subject matter.

The following books are resources that you may find helpful in developing and maintaining book clubs. Breathing New Life into Book Clubs by Sonja Cherry-Paul and Dana Johansen is primarily for Grades 3-8. This book was published by Heinemann in 2019. The book gives practical ideas for developing and utilizing book clubs. Some of the ideas can be used during literacy small groups, teacher led or independent work. The second resource that you may find useful in developing book clubs or reading groups is The Reading Strategies Book by Jennifer Serravallo. Her book includes practical instructional ideas related to developing skilled readers. Happy book clubbing!

Reference
Thorndike, Edward L. (1917/2015). Reading as reasoning: a study of mistakes in paragraph reading. Baltimore: Warwick & York, Inc. Reprinted by ForgottenBooks of Englan

Instructional Notes of Grade 4 Writing Assignment-differentiating, scaffolding

I was substituting in a Grade 4 classroom at a Title 1 school, where most students qualified for free meals. I had substituted in this classroom a few times before, so I was familiar with their learning abilities. Many of the students were English second language (ESL) learners. Most of the students were at-risk for literacy.

The regular classroom teacher had left the task of independently reading a passage and drawing a picture or writing a summary about the passage. Since I was familiar with the learning abilities present in this class, I chose to have students (voluntarily) take turns reading the passage. This may have created some confusion as most could not read the passage fluidly. When we finished reading the passage, I ask them to begin drawing or writing their interpretation of the passage. I usually let students work independently on the assignment before beginning to verbally work through the assignment. (The tricky thing about being a substitute is that it’s not really your job to teach, more to facilitate. Most of the time unless you have the ability to visit a classroom multiple times you do not know the learning capabilities of the students.)

After about 5 or so minutes, most of the students seemed to be lost in how to interpret the passage. I began verbally rereading the passage, one or two sentences at time. I then asked students to verbally explain what the read sentences meant. Students were still struggling, so I began to break down the sentences in phrases and words. I learned that students did not know the meaning of key words. I found myself explaining snow-capped rooves and other items within the passage to help them understand the meaning. I used pictures and the dictionary as sources to help students learn how to research the meaning. Most students were then able to draw a picture of the passage. And one or two students were able to translate their picture into words. I asked those students that were able to translate their pictures into words to read their interpretation of the passage. I used those words/sentences about the passage as examples that I wrote on the board. Students who were still struggling to write their own translation of the passage were allowed to copy, this helps to develop brain connections for writing words. As the lesson moved along students began to relax, which allowed them to process the information into the form necessary to accomplish the task.

Instructional Notes—Analysis of the Lesson
I had taken for granted that most of the students in this classroom would know the meaning of most of the words. The words were of things present in the community. The passage was talking about snowcapped roofs, chimneys, shapes of houses, and fireplaces. Many individuals in this community use fireplaces and wood stoves to heat their home and there is a ski resort within an hour of school.

Students initial lack of understanding could be derived from multiple issues. Students may not have learned the name of those things described in the passage in their native language, in English, or in both their native language and English. Students may also have learning issues that impede them from translating written words into their own words. This may have been the first time for some students to translate a passage into a picture or into their own words.

My point is students should have the opportunity to reverse, learn or review, and then regroup before moving forward again. Many students need to be shown and reshown and reshown how to accomplish a task. Often students need the task broken down into manageable parts, many will focus on the portion that they cannot accomplish and because of anxiety of that part will not accomplish the parts they can do. Most students do not want you to do the work for them. Students usually will begin writing their own words, after many opportunities to practice. It takes time to develop the brain connections necessary for fluid writing.

Defining Scaffolding in Relation to Instruction

Educators seem to enjoy the tussle of how to define the different elements of instruction. This could be rooted in their historical-cultural background. This could also be rooted in the need to be heard. Whatever the case, it can become confusing to individuals trying to find a solid definition of a term. Hopefully this post will help you to better understand scaffolding in relation to instruction. I have presented six definitions of scaffolding in relation to instruction, the first five definitions assisted in the development of the sixth. Each definition reflects Vygotsky’s 1929 cultural-historical theory of psychological development in relation to scaffolding.

The first definition of scaffolding is “support given by a teacher to a student when performing a task that the student might otherwise not be able to accomplish” (van de Pol, Volman, & Beishuizen, 2010). In the same article van de Pol, Volman, and Beishuizen describe scaffolding as a process that includes contingency, fading, and transfer of responsibility. “Contingency is the tailored, adjusted, and differentiated responses or support that a teacher gives to a student during instruction. Fading is the gradual withdrawal of the scaffolding or contingency support. Transfer of responsibility is the completion of the fading stage, when students can independently process the task” (Ray, 2017, p. 26).

The second and third definition of scaffolding were found in an article titled, Scaffolding Students’ Comprehension of Text. The second definition is “what teachers say and do to enable children to complete complex mental tasks they could not complete without assistance (Pearson & Fielding, 1991, p. 842.” The third definition is “a temporary supportive structure that teachers create to assist a student or a group of students to accomplish a task that they could not complete alone (Graces, Watts, & Graves, 1994, P. 44)” (Clark & Graves, 2005, p. 571). In the same article Clark and Graves discuss scaffolding as a process of gradual release of responsibility that includes three key components: a) all teacher—modeling and instruction, b) joint responsibility—guided practice, and c) all student—practice and application. The article also states that scaffolding allows the teacher to “chunk” the assignment into smaller manageable parts while maintaining the integrity of the whole.

The fourth definition of scaffolding is “a ‘process’ that enables a child or novice to solve a problem, carry out a task or achieve a goal which would be beyond his unassisted efforts” (Wood, Bruner, & Ross, 1976, p. 90). In the same article Wood, Bruner, and Ross describe the scaffolding process to have six key functions or strategies within the process:
1. recruitment – creating engagement of the learner
2. reduction in degrees of freedom – simplifying or narrowing the process
3. direction of maintenance – motivating student towards the goal
4. marking critical features – noting the relevant components of the task, like a rubric and interpreting discrepancies of correct and incorrect production
5. frustration control – providing assistance that creates a learning environment of less stress to the learner
6. demonstration – modeling task for student to emulate
To reach independence or have ownership of a task, Wood and his colleagues believed that students must have some ideas of how to solve the task before they can systematically solve or produce the task themselves.

The fifth definition of scaffolding is found in Vygotsky’s (1929) cultural-historical theory of psychological development, particularly in relation to cognitive development and the zone of proximal development. Vygotsky emphasized several components of scaffolding. The first component is collaboration between teacher or person of higher cognitive ability and the student to solve an issue or complete a task (Vygotsky, 1935). Vygotsky believed that interaction between the student and the teacher must involve a process of removing the scaffolds in order to allow the student to complete the assessed skill using his or her own abilities (as cited in Gredler, 2009). The second component is constantly asking the student to explain the task, these responses help students develop the ability to ask questions and explain concepts. The third component is constantly modeling and explaining tasks, teacher modeling of the ideal form should change to match the current maturation level of students (Vygotsky, 1934/2002). Vygotsky believed that instruction, in the form of teacher modeling, should take place just beyond the tasks that a student can accomplish on their own. The fourth component is assessment to find ideal instruction point or the zone of proximal development. Vygotsky proposed four strategies that teachers could use to scaffold assessment of student capabilities, which included (a) demonstrate how to complete a task and observe the student mirror this demonstration, (b) start a task and ask the student to complete the task, (c) ask the student to complete a task in collaboration with a higher functioning student, and (d) demonstrate metacognition in solving the task (Gredler, 2009). Vygotsky believed that each student has a unique ideal learning level that is based on past interactions of adults, peers, culture, and natural environment and biological factors.

With the previous in mind, a sixth definition of instructional scaffolding was developed “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).

References
Clark, K., & Graves, M. (2005). Scaffolding students’ comprehension of text. The Reading Teacher, 58(6), 570-580. https://www.jstor.org/journal/readingteacher
Gredler, M. (2009). Learning and Instruction Theory into Practice. Upper Saddle Creek, New Jersey: Pearson Education, Inc.
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/
van de Pol, J., Volman, M., & Beishuizen, J. (2010). Scaffolding in teacher-student interaction: A decade of research. Education Psychology Review, 22, 271-296. doi:10.1007/s10648-010-9127-6.
Vygotsky, L. (1929). The problem of the cultural development of the child II. Journal of Genetic Psychology, 36, 415-434. Vygotsky Reader, Blackwell. Retrieved from https://www.marxists.org/archive/vygotsky/works/1929/cultural_development.htm
Vygotsky, L. (1934/2002). Thought and Language. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press.
Vygotsky, L. S., & Kozulin, A. (1935/2011). The dynamics of the schoolchild’s mental development in relation to teaching and learning. Journal of Cognitive Education and Psychology, 10(2), 198-211. http://ia-cep.org/journal/jcep
Wood, D., Bruner, J. S., & Ross, G. (1976). The role of tutoring in problem solving. Journal of Child Psychology & Psychiatry & Allied Disciplines, 17(2), 89–100.

The English language is more opaque than transparent. This makes learning how to read and write the spoken language seem more like taking a walk down a twisty, hard to navigate path that features many unmarked opportunities to walk in other directions. To better navigate the difficult path of learning how to read and write, scholars like Noah Webster simplified and organized literacy instruction. When America was separating from Britain and developing their own education system.

Webster (1790) saw that the strength of the United States was dependent on the education of its youth. He believed that language arts is the center piece of educating America’s youth. His patriotism led him to remold the education of young people. He believed that every young person, no matter their social economic status, sex, or cultural heritage should be educated.

Webster, a teacher while earning his college degree, witnessed that learning literacy was a challenge for the youth of America. Webster set out to improve the separate entities of language, both spoken and written. He simplified and regulated the spelling of words, utilizing didactical marks for punctuation; this method eased the learning of spelling and pronunciation (Webster, 1843). Webster (1843) also noted that spoken language involved the correct articulation of words utilizing an intricate team of the throat, tongue, palate, teeth, and lips. He believed that teachers should be looked upon to model correct articulation and to correct students on the spot in order to ensure correct articulation of words spoken or read.

Webster (1843) also believed that written language was a way to communicate a variety of thoughts, and to be utilized in a global sense that could be transported from place to place. Webster saw grammar as the science of organizing words together, utilizing firm rules that were seen as a model of organized language in order to communicate effectively. He developed and used a systematic, sequential, letter-based or a phonics approach to teaching reading and writing.

Educators today continue to develop instructional curriculum and tools to ease literacy instruction and student practice of literacy. During a recent webinar, I was reminded of an instructional tool that can ease the instruction and learning of spelling vowel sounds. The tool helps to bring better transparency of the English language. This chart titled, The Spelling Chart (Moats/LETRS) was developed by Dr. Lousia Moats. It is part of her literacy instructional program LETRS. The chart displays the different spellings of 19 vowels sounds, like the long ā sound can be spelled as make, rain and vein or the short sound ŭ can be spelled cup, flood and tough.

References
Moats, L. (2019). Hard words: what teachers don’t know about teaching reading and what to do about it, pg 26, the vowel spelling chart. Voyager Sopris Learning, 2019 Webinar Series
Webster, N. (1790). Collection of essays and fugitive writings on moral, historical, political and literary subjects. Boston: Fauet’s Statue.
Webster, N. (1843). An improved grammar of the English language. New York: Webster & Clark

Category: literacy instruction