Lev Semyonovich Vygotsky By: Lisa Venker, Angelica Grant, Natalie Avallone, Katie Heer

Table of Contents 1.Lev Vygotsky BiographyLev Vygotsky Biography 2.Ideas, Theories and DefinitionsIdeas, Theories and Definitions 3.Technology ApplicationTechnology Application 4.Assessment ApplicationAssessment Application 5.BibliographyBibliography

“Thought is not merely expressed in words; it comes into existence through them.” Born in Western Russia in 1896 (the same year as Piaget) Graduated from Moscow University with a law degree but also studied literature, philosophy and psychology

Later entered medical school to study neurophysiology and began work in educational psychology in 1924 Most famous work Thought and Language was published shortly after his death in 1934 of TB – it supposes that children learn through interaction and that language acquisition is the turning point in cognition His works were suppressed by the Soviet government and were not well known internationally until 1958 He is often compared to Piaget though his work focuses more on a cultural line of development

Zone of Proximal Development Def…. Zone where teachers and students work as children move towards independence. Zone changes as you move past their present level of development towards new areas of knowledge.

Quotes To speak is to engage Thought is not expressed but completed in the word.

Scaffolding Definition: learning through the joint construction of language and gradually withdrawing adult support as children master the language. TEACHERS -foster patterns -explore -learn -zone of proximal development

Jerome Bruner Describes the ZONE as… …joint construction of language …gradually withdrawing their support as children gain independent mastery of the language

Barbara Rogoff Importance of communities Collaborative relationship …language plays a role in -mediating learning -learning internalized -translated into future use Guidance….explicit, clear, tacit, implied Space…proximal, distal, close, distant

Application Digital Morning Message –Teacher uses Kid Pix- 2 or 3 sentence message –Children contribute news by sharing the keyboard –Computer reads message aloud –The leader of the day highlights letters or words he/she recognizes –Children given follow-up activities via print outs

Other Possible Applications Use Power Point to go over daily drill in Spanish Children need to read the sentence and fill in the blank Students create their own power point drills to use in class

Vygotsky & Testing Best learning is social. Assessor and learner have to interact. Interpersonal activities promote learning. Intrapersonal application comes later. Dynamic Testing – more interactive. Vygotsky explored ideas about interactive IQ testing.

What is Dynamic Assessment? The teacher interacts with the learners in order to induce changes in the learners’ levels of functioning. Problem solving processes (both those that promote and those that obstruct successful learning) are the focus of the assessment.

More about Dynamic Assessment Assessor can identify which interventions promote growth. Pretest-intervention-posttest format A supplement to traditional approaches. Assumes that all learners are capable of some learning or adaptability.

Bibliographic Information Gallagher, Christina. Lev Semyonovich Vygotsky (1999) Retrieved June 10, 2008 from, Encyclopedia of Marxism. (n.d.) Retrieved June 10, 2008 from, Labbo, L.(2005). From morning message to digital morning message: moving from the tried and true to the new. The Reading Teacher, 58, Wineburg, Sam. T. S. Eliot, Collaboration, And the Quandaries of Assessment In a Rapidly Changing World. (1997). Phi Delta Kappan The Professional Journal For Education. Retrieved June 10, 2008 from, Dynamic Assessment. Retrieved June 10, 2008 from, Literacy Professional Learning Resource – Key Concepts Retrieved June 10, 2008 from, /concpets/2zpdscaffl4.html /concpets/2zpdscaffl4.html