Category: Scaffolding

Reading and Comprehending Pictures-Inferencing

In a single day individuals analyze many moments of time. Individuals take in a new view very quickly, usually not seeing all of the details within that moment of time. Pictures allow people to stop time, capture a moment, and “deep-read” the captured moment. Pictures usually provoke questions or spark collaborative discussion. Asking question like: What is this picture about? How would you describe the moment? What do we know from this picture? What can we guess or infer from this picture? This is much like reading and comprehending written words, except the reader must develop the picture of the written words.

Comprehension of pictures or words requires a student to play detective, examine the unseen and seen information and analyze it against their stored information—what you already know. This is “deep reading” the story or moment of time looking in between and behind the scene of a picture. 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, especially those in the primary grades.

Inferencing is harder for younger students who think concretely. Most students begin moving from concrete thinking to abstract thinking during Grade 2 or 3. Each student will have a different perspective of the picture – which is dependent on their personal experience. Whole group discussions help students to understand the picture from different perspectives and build knowledge about the picture topic. In some incidences, teachers may need to scaffold the discussion by adding background information or asking leading questions that may allow for student comprehension of the picture. The discussion often lends support for students to think abstractly.

Discussion or collaboration with others about a picture will increase student lexicon. This is especially true when “brainstorming” words that may help to describe the picture in a group setting. Students enter the classroom with different backgrounds and experiences that usually assist in developing each participating members individual vocabulary. The discussion also helps students to connect familiar words with a different topic. Students will often use these words within their writing, which begins the process of ownership or using the unfamiliar words within their speech and writing without much thought.

Picture reading in collaboration with others usually assist in developing writing skills. Many students struggle to incorporate descriptors or adjectives in their writing. Students who write down the gathered words from the group discussion, may use them to write sentences or a paragraph to describe the picture. A descriptive word list generated by students might be placed on an anchor chart, so that multiple learning levels may participate in the writing process. The length or complexity of the sentence will be different depending on academic level of student and the intended writing outcomes of the lesson. When student ownership of vocabulary increases, the complexity of the sentence usually increases. The writing outcome is their interpretation of the picture.

Learning how to read and comprehend pictures helps students to accurately comprehend written words. Analyzing moments of time usually happens naturally, while learning how to read and comprehend written words does not. Comprehending written words is a learned skill.

 

Scaffolding of Writing

Learning how to write is often hard, cumbersome. Individuals do not come preprogrammed to write. Writing words onto paper begins with learning how to speak. Toddlers learn to string words into sentences through the layers of their environment. The immediate layer (home) is usually the most influential. Toddlers’ sentences may also be influenced through books read to them. Children may also be influenced by exposure of different media sources and people’s conversation in the production of spoken sentences. Many students struggle in how to put their spoken words onto paper.

Writing is a higher cognitive processing order and is often very laborious for students. Students usually learn how to write through (explicit, modeled) instruction and many hours of practice. Using writing topics that spark students’ intrinsic motivation usually eases the process. There are many different types or styles of writing that may also spark students’ motivation to write. Using tangible scaffolds may also assist students’ motivation to participate in the writing process.

Scaffolding instruction means, providing “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). van de Pol, Volman, & Beishuizen (2010) suggests that there are three levels of scaffolding instruction-contingency, fading, and transfer of responsibility. The type of mechanism to use for scaffolding instruction or completion of an assignment will depend on the task and the student. During the contingency stage of instruction teachers will usually adjust and model completion of task to meet the learning needs of the current student(s). During the fading stage of instruction students are beginning to complete assignments on their own with some assistance from students or teachers of higher cognitive abilities. Students do not own the ability to complete the task effectively without some assistance at this stage. At times the assistance may come in the way of a scaffolding mechanism that may not be a human, such as a graphic organizer or chart. Often how to use the mechanism is taught during the contingency phase of the scaffolding process. Some mechanisms that might be used during writing instruction include:

  • assistance in developing a descriptive word list to use for writing a passage
  • graphs
  • suggesting types of sentences to write in this section
  • sentence stems
  • writing different parts of a writing piece as separate tasks
  • discussions related to the topic
  • examples of appropriate sentences to include in their writing. I like to use appropriate sentences provided by other students as examples. Student may use these sentences or develop their own.

The final stage of the scaffolding process, transfer of responsibility implies that a student is able to complete the task without assistance, such as produce an organized, cohesive paragraph about a suggested topic or write a sentence using the correct punctuation.

Scaffolds usually increase student motivation and decrease stress and anxiety. Scaffolds often allow students to focus on smaller pieces of the task. Scaffolds are meant to be temporary and should be removed as student gains more ownership in the ability to accomplish the goal. Students often move back and forth between the different stages of the scaffolding process until they reach full ownership of a task. Each student will have different patterns of movement through the scaffolding stages, often dependent on the initial instruction given, background knowledge of student, and student abilities.

References

Ray, J. S. (2017). Tier 2 intervention for students in grades 1-3 identified as at-risk in reading. (Doctoral dissertation, Walden University). 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.

What is Partner Reading?

The instructional strategy partner reading looks different depending on the classroom and students. Partner reading provides opportunity for social and academic support. Partner reading also encourages motivation and provides opportunity for practice. This strategy at times becomes the teacher’s extended arms and mouth of instruction. Partner reading usually includes two students reading a book and at times discussing the contents of the book. The benefits are vast. See my post of June 2022.

The biggest challenge to “partner reading” is student collaborative skills. Students bring their individual intrapersonal and interpersonal skills, and knowledge to a group. These skills are combined with their partner’s skills to solve or work through the given task. Some students fall into these skills naturally through observation and participation of social interactions—beginning at birth. Some students will need explicit modeling of what and how these skills are practiced in a group setting. Most students will need to know the “ground rules” of what is excepted and not excepted during partner work in your classroom. The amount of repetition of ground rules will depend on the grade and prior experience of the students participating. Most students like to share and work with a partner.

Educators use different names and definitions for the instructional strategy of “partner reading”. Some of those names and definitions are noted below.

  • Partner Reading. I define partner reading “as two students orally reading a teacher chosen passage or book at their independent reading level, taking turns with their teacher chosen partner to read and listen to a book or passage. Students are intentionally paired higher-level readers with lower-level readers. Each student receives a teacher chosen book to read at their current independent instructional reading-level. While one student is reading the other student is listening or assisting their partner to read” (Ray, 2022).
  • Buddy reading is defined as two students reading a book of their choosing at their independent reading level. This instructional strategy is most often used to pair students of different grades levels, such as Grade 5 students and Kindergarteners reading their independent reading-level book to each other. This strategy may also be used in one classroom. Some buddy reading groups are encouraged to ask questions about the passage read. One student reads while the other student listens. Student are encouraged to sit side-by-side, so that the listener can see the reader’s page. Teachers usually sets a time for students to read—five or ten minutes, or the whole passage. This strategy usually promotes motivation for students to read. Students often scaffold the reading and comprehension process for each other.
  • Paired reading. Reading Rockets (2022) defines paired reading as a research-based fluency strategy for students who struggling with reading fluency. Students of the same reading level often reread the same passage to build fluency. Students are paired higher-level with lower-level reading ability. Students read books or passages of their choosing.
  • Cooperative learning is defined “as students working together, helping each other, sharing their ideas, and assisting their group in achieving mastery over the content material” (Ray, 2017, p. 45). Cooperative learning may exist of two or more students working together to accomplish a common goal or task. Cooperative learning usually increases student academic achievement and creative thinking skills. This strategy usually narrows or closes the reading performance gap.
  • Peer-Assisted Learning Strategy (PALS) is another name type of partner reading. This strategy is more scripted and is often used as an intervention strategy. Peer-assisted involves two students, one of higher-level and one of lower-level working together to accomplish a common task. This strategy calls for one passage or book that is accomplishable by both students (Fuchs, D. & Fuchs, L., 2005). The higher-leveled student reads the passage or book first to model how to read the passage. The lower-leveled student then reads the same passage and retells the passage just read. The PALS instructional strategy also includes paragraph shrinking and prediction relay.

Educators will usually see more growth in students who work in more scripted groups. Scripted group means that students in the group have been given direction as to what they need to accomplish, like reading a passage, discussing the character(s) of a story, orally answer or write questions or come up with a summary.

References

Fuchs, D. & Fuchs, L. (2005). Peer-assisted learning strategies: promoting word recognition, fluency, and reading comprehension in young children. The Journal of Special Education, 39, p 34-44.

Ray. J.S. (2022, June 9). The power of intentional partner reading. The Literacy Brain. https://theliteracybrain.com/2022/06/09/the-benefits-of-intentional-partner-reading/

Reading Rockets (2022). Paired (or partner) reading.  https://www.readingrockets.org/strategies/paired_reading

Developing An Elementary Classroom Book Club

Most of us understand that a book club is a group of individuals that meet to discuss the passages of a common book. There are different types of book clubs depending on who began the book club, when and the book club meets, and why the book club began. How you develop your book club will depend on your current students and instructional program. Students will bring to the table different social and academic abilities that will need to be brought into the process of designing the structure and flow of your book club. Each year your book club may have a different configuration. Elementary students usually begin learning about book clubs beginning in Grades 2-5.

An effective classroom book club will have the following components: a) reading, b) written response, c) observation, d) planning, e) coaching, f) digital tools, and g) assessment (Cherry-Paul, Johansen, 2019). Students will need some assistance and scaffolding to get started and maintain effective function. You may need more patience to implement book clubs this school year, as most students will need more teacher modeling and coaching to function effectively in book clubs. Most students have not had the opportunity to develop the social interaction skills necessary for smooth function in a book club, as they were glued to electronic devices without much “natural” social interaction over last two plus years. This will be especially true for students in the primary grades, as these students haven’t had the “normal” opportunities to socialize in or out of the classroom.

I use the following steps and considerations to development a book club.

  1. Form groups. This is usually accomplished by using student data, as students are usually group by reading ability. Student groups should consist of 4-6 students. There may be some students that need to participate in book-clubs differently, like in a smaller or more differentiated group with only the teacher to accommodate their ability level. You may need to get creative so that they do not feel left out. Another consideration should be student personalities. You may group students of higher-reading ability with students of lower-reading ability, if the book their reading is accomplishable by the lower-readers. I caution putting higher-readers in the mix that will not be engaged at the lower-readers ability. This will also depend on how nourishing the higher-level students may be.
  2. Set-up a tentative schedule of when book clubs will meet. In the beginning you might plan to meet with each group, while the other students are engaged in a different activity. In time all book clubs might be able to meet at the same time. Each classroom will have a different mix of students, so there may be years that the whole class can meet for book clubs at the same time and other years when it will be impossible. I typically will meet with a group of students twice a week—flexibility is key.
  3. Choose a book. Books should be chosen based on student ability. Book topics and genre should be considered to encourage natural student engagement. If possible, allow the students to choose the book. Books chosen at student’s highest instructional level or zone of proximal development will usually yield the most literacy growth.
  4. Decide what types of activities will be completed in relation to the chosen book. This may include writing a chapter or book summary. This might also include interactive discussions about the plot or characters. This might also include a review of vocabulary words before you read. This might also include reflective or recall questions. Engaging students in the passage that they have read usually promotes deeper comprehension.
  5. Develop a way to keep written response activities. Many times, related activities are not completed in one group time. To accommodate unfinished assignments, students might have their own “book club” folder. Students might keep their responses in their classroom “to be completed or must do” folder. Teachers might keep all of their responses in a group folder. I like to use different colors for each group.
  6. Meet with students. Let students know what will be expected of them during “book clubs” or small group time. Never assume that they know how to function during “your” small group time. Each educator usually has similar, but different expectations. Typically, students each take turns to read aloud, moving around the circle or group. Decide ahead of time if they should each read a sentence, a paragraph, or a page before allowing the next student to read. Students should be engaged or following along. Giving students a role during book club usually increases the engagement, like highlighter or pencil person or folder person.
  7. Model how to read. Not all student groups will need this, but most will enjoy you taking a turn to read. They are hearing your voice model how to read a passage. This also gives you a natural pause to ask questions about the passage or model metacognitive thinking. If students are losing their place as they read, have them use their finger or small piece of paper to keep their place. I often use my finger on their book to help them focus, keep their place, and decode words. In time they will not need the scaffold.
  8. Ask questions. Ask students questions about what they have just read or about unfamiliar words. This will assist them to bring clarity and dive deeper into the meaning of the passage. Often students need to clarify their current understanding of a word or passage. Encourage students to take a breath or raise their hand to discuss or clarify a word or passage.
  9. Model how to complete assignments. Are students expected to write their responses in complete sentences? Do students need to use a separate piece of paper? When do they need to answer questions? What types of questions might students ask? How might students respond to other student questions? I often write students’ verbal answer(s) in a central location for those struggling to write the answer, after giving most students time to produce their own written answer. This allows students to begin the process of moving from a verbal to written response. This scaffold is removed as all students become more fluid in writing the answer.

Reference

Cherry-Paul, S. & Johansen, D. (2019). Breathing New Life Into Book Clubs. Heinemann.

Differentiation vs Scaffolding

The attributes of differentiation and scaffolding have some similarities. There are also some distinctions between the two types of instruction. Each are valuable instructional strategies to assist educators in meeting the needs of all students present. Differentiated and scaffolding are described in the following paragraphs.

Differentiated instruction is defined as adjusting lessons to meet student learning needs by using regular assessment data to develop lessons and instructional groups (Tomlinson, 2022). Educators alter grade-level instruction to better meet student learning-style and learning-level. Students of the same classroom may receive different instructional lessons on the same subject. Tomlinson (2022) suggests four key areas of instruction that educators may adjust to better meet the instructional needs of students present. The first is the intended content to be absorbed by the students. The depth and width of the subject may be altered to match student learning level. The second is how the information is presented to students, such as lectures, exploration station or project format to better ensure absorption and future usage of the presented information. The third area is the intended outcome of the lesson. What will be the product of the lesson? How will the lesson conclude, such as a quiz, reflection or written document? In some cases, the students might be held accountable for writing a five-paragraph essay, while others receiving the same lesson may be only held accountable for writing 1 or 2 paragraphs. The fourth suggested area that might be adjusted is the learning environment, such as student or community-centered. What types of classroom management techniques are used? This might include student desks or group tables. Some environments might include a reading nook or allow students to roam freely.

Differentiated instruction is typically presented to students in a small group format. Small group instruction allows educators to use different types of instruction for a particular group of students. These students may be at a different academic level than their aged peers. These students may need instruction of a grade-level concept not yet user friendly for them. These students may have “holes” in their academic portfolio for various reasons. Scaffolding strategies may also be present in the small group instruction.

Scaffolding is “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). van de Pol, Volman, and Beishuizen describe scaffolding as a process that includes contingency, fading, and transfer of responsibility. Contingency is the support that teachers initially give to students, such as modeling. Fading may be described as half-in, half-out or the “murky” zone. The teacher is pulling away given support or scaffolding to give full control of task completion back to the student. Transfer of responsibility is the intended outcome. At this stage of the scaffolding process, students “own” the knowledge/skill to complete the task independently and are often able to assist others in completing the task.

The teacher role in scaffolding might include collaboration or discussion with a student to “brainstorm” solutions of an issue or complete a task. A second teacher role might be constantly asking the student questions about the task to help them develop “files” of information about the task. This assists students in building knowledge to increase student ability to explain concepts. A third teacher role is to constantly model and explain tasks in the ideal format of student’s current maturation level. The ideal format is just beyond what the student can accomplish on their own, often referred to as student zone of proximal development (Vygotsky, 1929;1934/2002).

The scaffolding instructional strategy is usually used to focus more on an individual student’s learning needs during an instructional lesson or completion of a particular task than to a group of students. This strategy is often used unconsciously by the instructor to increase student engagement and completion of a task, such as a teacher might read a question for a student or have a conversation about what the question is asking. Teachers may give students a copy of the formula for area or the multiplication table that can be removed from the student when they can use the information provided fluidly.

Differentiation and scaffolding instructional strategies may be used simultaneously to better meet the individual instructional needs of student(s).

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/

Tomlinson, Carol A. (2022). What is differentiated instruction? Reading Rockets. https://www.readingrockets.org/article/what-differentiated-instruction

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.

 

 

Structured Literacy Supports All Learners-Dyslexic, ESL

Structured Literacy Supports All Learners:  Students At-Risk of Literacy Acquisition—Dyslexia and English Learners

Abstract

Learning to read is a complex endeavor that requires developing brain connections. The brain connections for reading written words begins forming during the development of oral language. The maturing of oral language and reading instruction continue the growth of the necessary brain connections to read and write. Structured Literacy instruction helps to develop and strengthen brain connections for reading and processing written language. Structured Literacy encourages educators to teach the essential literacy foundational skills during the pre and primary school years, so students have a better chance of achieving and maintaining proficiency in literacy. 

This article was published in the Texas Association for Literacy Instruction Yearbook, Volume 7, September 2020, Chapter 5, p. 37-43, downloadable at  http://www.texasreaders.org/yearbooks.html.

More Instructional Support Strategies for Dyslexic Students

Individuals with dyslexia have brain processing issues, because their brains did not initially develop the same highways and byways to process written language.  But many dyslexic students will have fluid oral communication skills.  This may be why it has taken many years for society to recognize dyslexia as learning disability.  Some students you will not recognize as dyslexic, others will jump up and down dyslexia.  Boys tend to be diagnosed or show higher signs of dyslexia as they seem to squirm louder than girls.

Dyslexic students usually work twice as hard to learn how to read than the average student, as they are developing new brain connections.  Teaching all students using rich Structure Literacy curriculum and instruction can reach most students.  Taking brain breaks or moments of rest can the increase student motivation.  My thought is that any students who is struggling to learn how to read and write should be supported in the process.  Each dyslexic student will need different types of supports to develop the necessary highways and byways, as student environment plays a role in the brain development process.  The earlier the intervention or supports are put into place the higher chance the student has to overcome the risk of literacy acquisition.  The following dyslexic instructional strategies can be effective for any student at-risk in literacy.

  1. Use highlighters or a marking code. A highlighter is a tool that students can use for various tasks.  Students can use them to highlight important information that they may need for future tasks, such as writing or reading comprehension.  Highlighters can be used to note different parts of texts, such as topic sentence, detail, conclusion, parts of a sentence, etc.  Students can use different colors to signify different types of information.  Students can also use boxes, circles, underline, stars, etc. to note the same things when different colored highlighters are not available.  This technique is helpful to teach/model students by highlighting different parts of written language.  This technique can also assist early writers in proof reading their writing.
  2. Read the passage or words aloud at any volume. When students read the passage aloud, they are involving both their hearing and visual senses.  Most dyslexic students already have good oral communication skills—they can effectively process heard information.  Reading the passage aloud usually allows them to better comprehend the passage.  In addition, students are using their visual sense to build or strengthen their brain connections for reading using just their vision.  Whisper phones are a way for students to read written words aloud and not disrupt their fellow classmates.  Some students will grow out of the need to use both their visual and hearing to comprehend the passage, while others will need to occasional use both senses.
  3. Listen and follow along at grade-level. Students listen to a book on tape and read it with the tape or follow along.  This is a good tool for students who can orally comprehend at grade-level, but not read the words and comprehend at grade-level.  This strategy allows students to be exposed to grade-level information and it helps them to build and strengthen brain connections for reading to comprehend at grade-level.  This strategy should be used along with other strategies to increase student achievement level.  This strategy has been used for many years to teach primary students how to read.  Students listen to an oral reading of a book or passage and follow along.  Some of the computer programs have books or passages that can be read as the words are highlighted, but students need to follow along.
  4. Discussing information read. Developing an environment where all students feel safe to share is key for the success of this strategy.  Each student can bring their background/environment knowledge to the discussion.  Many dyslexic students have strong backgrounds of knowledge and good oral communication skills.  Discussing the read information can assist students in expanding their lexicon or student knowledge about a topic.  Student discussion(s) can also increase their information processing highways and byways.  This instructional strategy can also assist students in retaining the information read.  This strategy can also strengthen student ability to communicate orally.
  5. Encourage their interest, passion. When possible allow students to choose their topic of study.  This usually increases engagement and intrinsic motivation.  Some students will still “battle” the assignment or parts of the assignment.  I usually use science topics during the primary and elementary school years to increase student engagement in a task.  Most students can find an animal, insect that stirs their intrinsic motivation to read and write about.  The topic can be narrowed, to a particular aspect of the animal.
  6. Assistance in copying words from the board. Some dyslexic students struggle in copying words from the board or from a distance.  This could be due to vision issues, which is usually an additional issue—not dyslexia.  I usually lend them my notes or ask another student to assist them.  Most can copy from a paper that is placed right next to the paper that they are writing on.  Interactive word walls are excellent tools for students who struggle in copying from the board.

References

Gillingham, A. (1956). Remedial training for children with specific disability in reading, spelling, and penmanship. Massachusetts: Educators Publishing Service, Inc.

Hinshelwood, James. (1917). Congenital word-blindness. London: H.K. Lewis.

Zone of Proximal Development and Scaffolding

Student optimum learning level or zone of proximal development (ZPD) was first introduced in Vygotsky’s 1929 cultural-historical theory of psychological development. Vygotsky’s theory maintains that cognitive development includes (a) the processes of mastering the external means of cultural development and thinking in relation to language, writing, counting, and drawing, and (b) the processes of higher mental functions, which include the concepts of logical memory, categorical perception, voluntary attention, and conceptual thinking. Vygotsky believed that each student has a unique learning level or ZPD that is based on past interactions with adults, peers, culture, and environment. He defined ZPD as “the distance between the level of actual development, determined with the help of independently solved tasks, and the level of possible development, defined with the help of tasks solved by the child under the guidance of adults or in cooperation with the more intelligent peers” (Vygotsky, 1935/2011, p. 204). ZPD is the bud or potential growth that can develop into ripened fruit or ownership of skill (Vygotsky, 1978), when feed the necessary nutrients. These are skills that are in the process of maturing and will need the assistance of an individual of higher cognitive processing level to complete. This is a student’s unique, ideal instructional or learning level that is constantly changing, as they work with individuals of higher cognitive processing levels and interact with their natural environment.

Student zone of proximal development (ZPD) is important to the scaffolding process, as student learning is most effective at this level. Instruction should begin just beyond what they already know or have mastered. Teachers use student ZPD to begin modeling how to complete a task not yet mastered. Teachers add scaffolds to assist the student(s) in learning new information and task completion. The scaffolds should be removed as student begins to show confidence or take ownership of unknown information. This may mean adding and subtracting the same or similar scaffolds before student becomes completely confident or has mastered the task. Student ZPD is most prevalent during the fading stage of the scaffolding process. Scaffolding is a process that includes three major stages—contingency, fading, and transfer of responsibility. The scaffolding process is described in further detail in my July 5th post—titled, Scaffolding Instruction.

Student ZPD can be located through assessment. Vygotsky suggested using assessments to measure student’s capabilities, that included (a) you demonstrate how to complete a task and observe the student mirror this demonstration, (b) you 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). Teachers may also use formative, summative, and/or diagnostic assessments to help determine student’s approximate ZPD. Teachers can also use anecdotal notes or observations of student capabilities to help determine students ZPD. Teachers can also use student’s answer to questions about the current task posed by the teacher or person of higher cognitive ability to fine tune learner’s ZPD regarding a concept or task.

References
Gredler, M. (2009). Learning and Instruction Theory into Practice. Upper Saddle Creek, New Jersey: Pearson Education, Inc.
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. 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
Vygotsky, L. (1978). Interaction between learning and development. Mind and Society, 79-91. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

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.

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