Scaffolding instruction for student success Katherine Figueroa, Katherine Johnson, A. Judith Yancey Borough of Manhattan Community College Scaffolding instruction for student success

Part One What is scaffolding?

Scaffolding Vygotsky: learning occurs in stages Zone of Real Development: what a student can do with no help Zone of Proximal Development: what a student is ready to do but needs help Development of certain cognitive skills can be “pushed” to the next level with the help of a teacher

Scaffolding Jerome Bruner: first used metaphor of “scaffolds” in teaching A building cannot stand on its own without scaffolds while it is being built Scaffolds are put up and taken down depending on what area of the building we are working on. Scaffolds in teaching are the supports a teacher provides while a student’s linguistic and cognitive skills are being developed.

Scaffolding Note that the content or skills being taught should not be “diluted” to make them more accessible: The scaffolding provides the support necessary to help the student develop to the next stage Activities that involve recognition (vs. production) or provide language frames are not diluting content; they are scaffolds that should be removed once the skills being taught move into the students’ ZRD Emphasize that scaffolding is critical to ESL and LD students, but helpful to all students.

Scaffolding How-To Identify the students’ ZPD – the skills they are ready to develop, but need help (diagnostic tests) Devise scaffolds to support them as they reach this level Scaffolds are then removed from this area and put up in the next ZPD Use the students’ ZRD as a basis for development – we learn by making connections to what we already know (our ZRD)

Steps for Scaffolding Model the task with “think-alouds” (I do) Complete the task with input from students (we do) The students perform the task with support from the teacher (we do) The student performs the task independently (you do)

Tips for successful scaffolding Always model for students – don’t expect them to be able to complete a task that you have not shown them how to complete Give explicit directions and instruction. “Break things down” explicitly into manageable steps Make your expectations for the final product clear Know when to take a step back or forward in the removal of the scaffolds Teach students why that skill is important and when to use it For transfer, need to teach them why skill is useful and when they should use it – this isn’t just about getting them to pass CATW, but be successful in college.

Scaffolding reading tasks Part Two Scaffolding reading tasks

Main ideas Elicit definitions of “main idea” from students Definition: the author’s most important point or idea. Provide steps for identifying the main idea (next slide) Model the steps with “think-alouds” Practice identifying main idea with input from students Students practice identifying main idea with help from each other or teacher Students identify main idea independently Students often have difficulty identifying main ideas, especially if they are implied. Scaffolding can help address this difficulty.

Steps to identify Main ideas Identify the topic Often repeated, though beware of author’s use of synonyms and pronouns Identify what the details tell about the topic Details are the specific information that support or explain a main idea. List the details to figure out why the author included them – what “job” do they have? Use W/H words to help identify the “job” Job – to explain, to illustrate, to explain why, to compare, etc. Can use W/H words to help with this.

Steps to id main idea, cont. Write a sentence or phrase that expresses what the details tell you about the topic. All or most of the details in the paragraph or passage should relate to or “fall under” this sentence. If there is a sentence in the passage that is roughly the same as what you wrote, that is the main idea. If not, you have written an implied main idea sentence. Turn sentence into question, if can’t answer question with all details in the paragraph, then not main idea.

Annotating a text Define annotation: writing on the text (not just underlining or highlighting) Elicit from students the types of information that can be annotated: Reactions (Woah! Huh?) Questions (Why would that happen? Why did she do that? How can that be true?) Connections (to what they know or read elsewhere) Labels (Main Idea, Thesis, types of details, etc.) Vocabulary definitions Students need to get in habit of reading with pencil in hand and not be afraid to write on their books/reading. Need to think of having conversation with author; author is talking to them in writing, so they have to write back in order to have this conversation. Annotating important because forces students to read ACTIVELY and helps them quickly find information later on

Annotating a text Offer “steps” or a “system,” but annotations are highly personalized Read and mark with symbols for what like or don’t understand (*, √, ?) Circle unknown vocabulary to look up later Write any reactions or questions Reread and identify main ideas – write notes in margins for each paragraph or section that summarize what the details say about the topic Label any important information for later reference Always follow same procedure – model, do with their input, do on own with your input, then independently… See Divided We Eat handout for more details. Give examples of margin notes (how much it costs to buy a dog; etc.)

Summarizing a text - steps Define summarizing and teach the steps necessary for summarizing Teacher models identifying/deleting necessary information (applying rules) for students Teacher models writing a summary Students practice in groups/pairs with feedback from teacher Students practice independently with ongoing feedback from teacher Step 1 – and say why important – reading – helps them learn and remember; writing – become more concise writer and have to do it in all sorts of academic writing. Step 2 – with think alouds

Summarizing a text Define a “summary” with students: a short version of a text that contains all (and only) the important information. A summary includes: Reference to the author/title of the text The author’s main ideas & important details The student’s own words A summary does NOT include: The student’s own opinions

Summarizing a text Teach the “rules” for summarizing: (based on Brown and Day, 1983 & Kintsch and van Dijk, 1978) Delete trivial information Ignore repeated information Combine details into a generalization Select the topic sentence (main idea) Write your own topic sentence (main idea) if there is none in the text

Steps to summarizing Model using the summarizing rules with a text that is at the students’ instructional level Read the text with students, asking questions as necessary to ensure basic comprehension Model with “think-alouds” how you delete trivial and repeated information, superordinate, and select main ideas Model annotating (or outlining, mapping, etc.) this information to be used for composing

Module Assignment Use Slide 8 in this module to scaffold a CATW reading either from your class section or from the CATW orientation Module (the second training within the “SI Tutor Training” section of the website). Create a step-by-step scaffolding plan for that CATW reading passage. Email your plan to ccomeaukirschner@bmcc.cuny.edu and dsanchez@bmcc.cuny.edu