Scaffolding Strategies by James Green

1. 1st Grade Reading Comprehension Learning Standard: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.1.2.-Retell stories including key details and demonstrate understanding of their central message or lesson.

2. BIG IDEA - Identifying key details such as sequence, and central messages and lessons are important parts of understanding what you're reading.

3. Objective: Students exhibit improved language development and oral participation

4. ELL Student named Carlos - Carlos is an ELL at the intermediate fluency stage. I often pair Carlos with a classmate named Steve. Steve's modeling is helpful for Carlos. Carlos reads at below grade level.

4.1. Scaffolding Technique - I try to connect to Carlos' background knowledge. I will strategically link aspects of a new lesson with a previous lesson. For example, I recently read the book "All in a Day" to the class. I shared Carlos a picture of the boy from the book "All in a Day" and explained how the story centered around him which makes him the main character. I then showed Carlos a picture of the mouse from a book I had previously read to him called "Mouse's First Fall". I explained that "Mouse's First Fall" was all about the mouse's adventures which makes the mouse the main character in that book.

5. High Level Learner - Alexis excels in almost every academic discipline. She is a very capable reader. He can read books that are considered advanced for 1st graders.

5.1. I also expose Alexis to a wide range of reading materials. Young children enjoy using a "Genre Wheel" to do this. You can easily make one using a paper plate. Divide the plate into eight sections and write one of the following in each section: poetry, informational, science fiction/fantasy, mystery, biography, folklore, realistic fiction, and historical fiction. I have a pointer in the center of the plate. Alexis spins the pointer and whatever section it lands on she reads a book from that genre. The goal is for her to read books from a variety of genres. This will help to enhance her reading comprehension.

6. Lower Level Learner - Jake usually needs extra help with lessons. He tries hard but he generally learns at a slower pace than his classmates.

6.1. Another technique that has helped Jake is breaking down stories/text into very small segments. After I do a read-aloud or paired students have read a section of text, I will ask questions about it. If Jake can't answer the question I will give the pairs more time to discuss the question. I will then re-ask the questions. This helps me to assess as well.

7. Resources: http://www.edutopia.org/blog/scaffolding-lessons-six-strategies-rebecca-alberhttp://www.mshouser.com/teaching-tips/8-strategies-for-scaffolding-instructionhttp://www.readinghelplive.com/ansque7.html

8. ELL Student named Carlos - Carlos is an ELL at the intermediate fluency stage. I often pair Carlos with a classmate named Steve. Steve's modeling is helpful for Carlos. Carlos reads at below grade level.

8.1. Scaffolding Technique - Using sentence stems along with graphic organizers really helped Carlos understand material quicker. For example, I read a very basic story that is just one paragraph long. It has a definite beginning, middle, and end. I will then help Carlos fill out a graphic organizer that has sentences begin like "The first thing that happened was _______." The second thing that happened was _______.", etc.. This has helped Carlos understand key vocabulary words such as first, second, middle, last, etc...

8.2. Scaffolding Technique - It is helpful to take a visual approach with Carlos. For example, I recently taught a unit on dinosaurs and I brought in a big bone I got from the butcher to help Carlos (along with the rest of the class) visualize what a dinosaur bone looked like. This helped to make the assignment more real.

9. Objective: Students will be able to identify what happened at the beginning, middle, and end of a story orally or through writing.

10. High Level Learner - Alexis excels in almost every academic discipline. She is a very capable reader. He can read books that are considered advanced for 1st graders.

10.1. Scaffolding Technique- Instead of just giving Alexis more work I ask her "higher level questions" about what she read. I will ask her questions that have her compare/contrast what she read. For example, I will ask her questions like "How are you like the main character?" How are you different?" I will also ask Alexis questions that have her analyze. For example, I will ask her "Why do you think the character acted like that?"

11. Lower Level Learner - Jake usually needs extra help with lessons. He tries hard but he generally learns at a slower pace than his classmates.

11.1. Scaffolding Technique - I have found "think alouds" to be effective with Jake. I will read-aloud a section of a story then verbalize my thinking and thought process of that story section in regards to how I go about understanding what I read. This modeling technique is something he responds well to. It helps gives more depth and reasoning to the text. Because Jake reads at a lower level it helps him when something is read to him and then explained. I like to use the gradual release of responsibility method with him. I've also strategically paired him with a capable classmate. They will read a very short passage together then talk about it. I check in to see how they are doing.