How does scaffolding encourage fluent reading

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Because struggling readers have trouble distinguishing extraneous information from key points, signaling the main ideas can be extremely helpful to their comprehension. Finally, use notes as a means of activating prior knowledge. Draw analogies between new concepts and ideas that are already familiar to them i. The questions you embed in the text essentially serve three purposes: chunking the text, monitoring comprehension, and encouraging deeper thinking.

These are especially important functions when scaffolding for struggling readers. Chunking breaks down a large, complex text into more manageable pieces. In terms of instructional design, teachers should think carefully about the quantity of questions to include in the text and where to place them.

Stopping a student every fifteen seconds to ask a question will make it difficult for him or her to maintain the flow of the narrative. Placing questions in seemingly random places mid-sentence will also make chunking less effective.

Ideally, questions will be placed after a significant scene has occurred or a new idea has been introduced. Monitoring comprehension is another important function of questions. Students often assume that questions are like punishments imposed by their teacher, but monitoring comprehension is a skill that is essential to reading fluency Rand Study Group, Fluent readers assess their own understanding as they read by asking themselves questions.

They make sure they are comprehending what they read, and resort to repair strategies such as re-reading or looking up terms when they notice they are off track. The simple act of stopping the student to check in on what he or she has read can have a tremendous impact on comprehension, because it gives the student an opportunity to self-monitor and employ repair strategies if needed.

Finally, questions provide an opportunity to activate deeper thinking. They can encourage students to make connections to their previous reading or class discussion, evaluate arguments, or apply the concepts they read about to other scenarios. It was important for me to show my ELs that the literacy they had in their primary language was valuable and useful as they acquired English.

I also made it known to them that continuing to read, write, and speak in their primary language was important, and so I encouraged them to read books in their primary language. Another way to include primary language support is through preview-review. This technique is sometimes referred to as preview-view-review and takes only a few extra minutes before and after a lesson Wright, It has been found to be effective in increasing comprehension, especially for students at beginning levels of English proficiency.

Preview-review includes providing students with primary language support before and after a lesson or a read aloud. The second grade class is preparing to learn about living and nonliving things. The ESL teacher gathers English learners prior to the lesson to preview in their primary language. She asks them what they know about living and nonliving things. They discuss and make a chart in their primary language.

The teacher reads a short passage and checks for comprehension, and then they return to the whole group. The mainstream teacher conducts the whole-class lesson on living and nonliving things in English. The teacher shelters instruction to ensure that ELs comprehend the lesson. She uses repetition, visuals, and gestures. Then she sends them off to read and write with a partner in English. Following the English lesson, the ESL teacher pulls the ELs back together once again to review what they learned in their primary language.

This is an excellent opportunity to clear up misconceptions. But that is not always the case. The bottom line of all this is that, when students enjoy what they are reading and they understand what they are reading, they will feel successful.

The more often this feeling occurs, the more they will want to read, and the more their comprehension will increase. View all posts by Seidlitz Education. This article is just what I was searching for. Differentiation during shared reading can be difficult and overwhelming for teachers.

This article really breaks down and makes shared reading comprehensible for me as the coach and as a teacher in the classroom. Like Like. You are commenting using your WordPress. You are commenting using your Google account. Here are ways to provide procedural scaffolds:. In my next blog , I will explore how Collaborative Literacy offers explicit support for scaffolding instruction in support of English Language Learners.

Verbal Scaffolds How information is verbally presented or explained to the students during instruction. Procedural Scaffolds Tools and resources to support the students as they gain access to the learning. Here are ways to provide procedural scaffolds: Provide explicit modeling through visuals, gestures, and realia Allow for visual tools organizers as students manipulate information Use wait-time when asking questions to give all students an opportunity to respond Provide discussion prompts sentence frames to support discussions Allow students to collaborate with other students often as they discuss the learning In my next blog , I will explore how Collaborative Literacy offers explicit support for scaffolding instruction in support of English Language Learners.