Despite the rapidly shrinking budgets for arts programs and the growing de-emphasization of English as a relevant field of study, the lessons learned and taught in English classrooms still forms the foundation of learning throughout a student’s academic career. For most American students the English language will serve as the lens through which they view other subjects, and reading comprehension will be the tool that lets them learn from those subjects. Without an adequate foundation in such a core subject, students are simply thrown into the water and “even if they manage to swim, we cannot reasonably expect them to enjoy being in the water” (Brown & Broemmel, 2011). Effective instruction in English and Language Arts, then, should be centered around giving students the tools to become better readers and better learners.
This idea is expressed best through scaffolded instruction. Instructional scaffolding provides students with a broad-base of support from which to launch their learning. Scaffolding is included in the most basic lesson plans, where teachers are encouraged to provide checklists and supplemental materials for their students to periodically assess their progress through a unit. In Deep Scaffolding: Enhancing the Reading Experiences of English Language Learners, Clara Brown and Amy Broemmel argue that those traditional scaffolding methods are insufficient for the needs of students. They propose a system of deep scaffolding, where Teachers must both increase the amount of scaffolding support offered to students and keenly focus on the meaningfulness of that scaffolding. Broemmel and Brown’s deep scaffolding focuses on recognizing the potential of students as learners and provides adequate depth of instruction for st...
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...le outside activities. “Create” provides a space for students to use richer media technologies than available in a classroom to complete assignments.
Works Cited
Brown, C. L., & Broemmel, A. D. (2011). Deep scaffolding: Enhancing the reading experiences of English language learners. New England Reading Association Journal, 46(2), 34-39.
Callahan, M., & King, J. M. (2011). Classroom Remix: Patterns of Pedagogy in a Techno-Literacies Poetry Unit. Journal Of Adolescent & Adult Literacy,55(2), 134-144. doi:10.1002/JAAL.00016
Santos, A. E. (2011). Blogs As A Learning Space: Creating Text Of Talks.Contemporary Issues In Education Research, 4(6), 15-19.
Savino, J. (2011). The Shakespeare in All of Us: A Monumental, Multitudinous, Premeditated Approach to Vocabulary Instruction. Journal Of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 54(6), 445-453. doi:10.1598/JAAL.54.6.6
5. Gibbons, Pauline. Scaffolding language, scaffolding learning: teaching second language learners in the mainstream classroom. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann, 2002. Print.
Fountas, I., C., & Pinnel, G. S., (2009). When readers struggle: Teaching that works. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.
Gomez, L. M., & Gomez, K. (2007). Reading for learning: Literacy supports for 21st-century work. Phi
Van Der Stuyf. R.R. (2010). Scaffolding as a Teaching Strategy. Adolescent Learning and Development. Section 0500A, November, 2010. Retrieved from http://www.sandi.net/20451072011455933/lib/20451072011455933/RTI/Scaffolding%20as%20a%20Teaching%20Strategy.pdf
Intellectual quality is embedded through the elements of deep knowledge and understanding and substantive communication (NSW DET, 2003, p. 10). Throughout the lesson, focus is sustained on key concepts such as cursive writing, spelling, grammar, punctuation and vocabulary. Students are then given opportunities both orally and written, to express and demonstrate their understanding and competency. Extension options are also available for students where they can use digital technologies to publish their work or write in calligraphy once the set task is completed. (NSW DET, 2003, p. 11). For students to achieve higher quality outcomes, they need to be highly engaged and willing to participate (NSW DET, 2003, p. 10). This can be achieved through establishing challenging learning goals within each students’ proximal development and providing work that is intellectually stimulating, relates to real life and meet the needs of each student in order to gain confidence first (AITSL, 2011; Berk, 2013, pp. 267-268).
Looking back over the course of the semester, I feel that I learned many new and interesting uses for technology within the classroom – both for classrooms that have a lot of technology and for classrooms that are limited with technology. For the majority of the class, we utilized William Kists’ book The Socially Networked Classroom: Teaching in the New Media Age (2010), which provided multiple modes of instruction that both utilized and/or created technology. One of the first things that I remember, and consequently that stuck with me through the course’s entirety, is that individuals must treat everything as a text. Even a garden is a text. The statement made me change the way that I traditionally viewed Language Arts both as a student and as a teacher, as I very narrowly saw literature and works of the like as texts only; however, by considering nearly anything as a text, one can analyze, study, and even expand his/her knowledge. Kist (2010) states that society is “experiencing a vast transformation of the way we “read” and “write,” and a broadening of the way we conceptualize “literacy” (p. 2). In order to begin to experience and learn with the modern classroom and technologically advanced students, individuals must begin to see new things as literature and analyze those things in a similar manner.
According to McArthur, Konold, Glutting and Alamprese (2010), many adults in the United States have difficulties with basic literacy. A solution to this situation has been the founding of adult basic education (ABE) programs by the U.S Department of Education which helps and serves more than 2 million adults annually (U.S Department of Education, Division of Adult Education and Literacy, 2002, 2006). Mellard and Patterson (2008) found that ABE students differ in skill from zero or minimal reading skills to reading simple stories, books and descriptions on familiar subjects so new vocabulary can be determined by context. According to Mellard and Pattersen (2008) ABE literacy program is divided in to four levels which range from “beginners” to “high intermediate”. Scaffolding theory provides a promising method of providing support to students with learning challenges, e.g. dyslexia and short term memory deficit. As stated by Larkin (2001) the main purpose of scaffolding is to support students and slowly reduce help until they are able to apply the new skills and strategies independently. Students receive support to complete particular task and eventually demonstrate task mastery.
While I believe every child is a reader, I do not believe every child will be enthralled with reading all the time. All students have the capability to read and enjoy reading, but just like any other hobby, interest will vary from student to student. The students in my classroom will be encouraged in their reading, be provided with choice, taught how books can take you into another world but, my students will not be forced to read. This paper will illustrate my philosophy of reading through the theories I relate to, the way I want to implement reading and writing curriculum, and the methods I will use motivate my students to read and help them become literate.
Plester, Beverly and Clare Wood. "Exploring Relationships Between Traditional and New Media Literacies: British Preteen Texters at School." Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication (2009): 1108–1129. Print.
Scaffolding is metaphorical term which refers to the process through which teachers facilitate children’s learning by enabling them achieve a level of ability beyond the child’s current capacity. Through scaffolding, teachers play an active role by interacting with children to support their development by providing structures that support them to stretch their understanding or me...
Scaffolding is the process of support given to students during their learning process to help them achieve their goals. Using
The purpose for the development of an English Language Learner intervention was that many students who had tested out of the ELL program were not finding success in most of their classes. There was a recognized need for intervention in this area. One of the action plan goals is to increase the graduation rate from 86% to 91%. Also to increase the English Language Arts proficiency scores that have decreased from 48% in 2012 to 23% in 2013. Lastly to increase the Math proficiency scores which have also decrease from 37% in 2012 to 29% in 2013. In order to achieve these goals the ELL coordinator began the intervention by meeting with students who are not currently enrolled in her Sheltered English class, who were failing one or more class. Each student participated in a one-on-one conference with the ELL coordinator and a learning plan was developed. The learning plan addressed the students test scores in reading, writing, mathematics, and science. The data used in the development of the plan included CAHSEE, CST, and benchmark scores. The next part element of the plan was a discussion of the subject area or areas wherein the student was in need of intervention. Once these areas were identified, the student’s specific needs in the subject were discussed, and an intervention, complete with strategies, was developed. The student was then monitored every six weeks to determine whether or not the student had made satisfactory progress or achieved mastery. The students were also asked to reflect on how the intervention process was working. If the students were not being successful with the intervention, the next step was to hold a student support team meeting to discuss remediation strategies, includi...
Puntambekar, S. & Hubscher. R. (2005). Tools for scaffolding students in a complex learning environment: What have we gained and what have we missed? Educational Psychologist, 40, 1-12.
Van Der Stuyf, R. R. (2002). Scaffolding as a Teaching Strategy. Adolescent Learning and Development, Retrieved from: http://www.sandi.net/20451072011455933/lib/20451072011455933/RTI/Scaffolding%20as%20a%20Teaching%20Strategy.pdf.
...before she introduced the new terms and vocabulary. Finally, Bruner investigated how adults use language to mediate the world for children and help them solve problems. Children learn effectively through scaffolding by adults. This technique is based on taking step by step for building knowledge. It suggests that a teacher can scaffold children learning in different ways. For example, students face difficulties in reading lessons in the first stages; therefore, the teacher has to use visual and auditory materials before she enrolls in the lesson, such as realia, pictures, and videos. This will helps the child to predict what the story is about. In addition, she has to introduce the new terms which are difficult for a child to pronounce it. These techniques and instructional strategies are most effective for teaching English as a foreign language for young learners.