Category: Scaffolding

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.

Scaffolding Instruction

I enjoy the challenge of teaching students how to read and write.  Partly, because each student is unique in their instructional needs and this allows me to keep my mind active.  I was working with a student this past weekend, listening to him read and assisting him with words that were just beyond his ability to read independently.  Part of the challenge is that I am not sure what instruction he has received for the words just beyond his ability to read independently.  Some reading instruction teaches straight phonics, some teaches a blended or a combination of both phonics and whole word, and some teaches straight whole word.  And most teachers emphasize different parts or have different “tricks” from their past environmental interactions that they add to the curriculum to increase the absorption of the curriculum during instruction.  Which is part of the challenge that I enjoy. 

When he came upon a word that he couldn’t read, I listened to how he was “examining” or trying to figure the word out.  I learned that he does have some phonics training, in that he knows the sound of individual letters within the words.  I also learned that he probably does not know vowel blends.  I also learned that he probably does not know all of the different sounds that each letter can make depending on how the letters are placed within the word.  To confirm some of my observational notes, I asked him questions?  Some of the questions were related to the whole word, most were related to the individual letters and the possible sounds that each letter could make.  One question was, what sound does the letters “ow” make?  Another question was, what sound does this letter make?  To further confirm my analysis, I had him segment phonic words into individual letter sounds, like c / a / t.  This knowledge helped me to “scaffold” my instruction to meet his learning level needs. 

Scaffolding instruction means, “a supportive instructional structure that teachers use to provide the appropriate mechanisms for a student to complete a task that is beyond their unassisted abilities” (Ray, 2017, p.14).  I will further define this term in my next blog.

References

Ray, J. (2017). Tiered 2 interventions for students in grades 1-3 identified as at risk in reading.  (Doctoral dissertation, Walden University). Retrieved from https://scholarworks.waldenu.edu/dissertations/3826

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