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Scaffolding for Success:
Strategies to Support Young Readers and Writers of Braille
Anna M. Swenson
Braille Literacy Consultant
Fairfax County Public Schools
Vygotsky and the Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD):
· The ZPD is the distance between a student's actual developmental level and his/her potential developmental level.
· It is also known as the "Instructional Level".
Scaffolding: The process used by teachers that enables a child to perform at a higher level than he/she could without assistance. Examples of scaffolding:
· Previewing material
· Questions
· Prompting (Get the child to do the work)
· Verbal, tactile, visual, gestural cues
· Modeling
Additional scaffolding for the Braille Learner because …
· More symbols to master
· More similar and reversed characters
· Multiple meanings for individual characters
· Lack of redundancy
Example showing a simple sentence with multiple meanings for the shape h. Possible meanings:
1. Opening quotation mark
2. The letter “h” in “he”
3. The word “have”
4. The word “his”
5. The question mark
General Guidelines for Scaffolding during Oral Reading
1. Make the most of miscues:
· Teach the child that reading must make sense.
· Provide wait time,
· Choose problem-solving opportunities that match the learner's level. Ask yourself – is this challenge attainable AND worth the child's effort?
· Limit the number of miscues the child works on.
· Teach multiple word-solving strategies.
· Recap successful solutions, telling the child what you observed him/her doing.
· NOTE: It’s perfectly OK to tell a child a word.
2. Preserve meaning:
· Give no more than 3 quick prompts, then move on (Brown, 2003)
· Avoid … "yesterday cues", impromptu phonics lessons, miscued cues, repetitive cues (Cole, 2006)
· Support struggling readers:
o Follow-along read-aloud
o Echo reading
3. Focus on Fluency
· Teach high frequency words www.mrsperkins.com/dolch.htm
· Provide targeted practice with confusing contractions
· Reread, reread, reread
· Have the child monitor his/her own fluency (fluency rubric)
Fluency Rubric
Rating / Observations / Notes for Teacher1 / *Reads very slowly.
*Stops often for help from the teacher.
*Does not use strategies to figure out words.
*Is confused by punctuation marks. / *The book may be too difficult for the student.
2 / *Reads slowly with only a few stops.
*Uses strategies to figure out words with occasional help from the teacher.
*Recognizes almost all punctuation marks / *Expectation for a “cold read”, the first time through a book at the student’s instructional level
3 / *Reads almost all words correctly at a normal rate without stopping.
*Uses good expression and phrasing.
*Recognizes punctuation marks. / *Expectation for a “warm read” after the student has read the book several times.
The Guided Reading Lesson
Introduce the new book:
· Give a book introduction
· Preview concepts and vocabulary
· Preview new contractions and other braille code features
· Review reading strategies
Basic Strategies Checklist for Beginning Readers
· Sound out the first three letters.
· Look for a part of the word you know.
· If the word has a suffix, take off the suffix and read the base word.
· Read the whole sentence, skip the unknown word, and think what word would make sense. Then read the sentence again.
Scaffolding the Writing Process
Principles of Effective Writing Instruction (Zumbrunn & Krause, 2012)
· Effective writing instruction encourages student motivation and engagement.
· Effective writing instruction and practice happen every day.
· Effective writing instruction is a scaffolded collaboration between teachers and students.
· Important Guideline: Always respond FIRST to content.
The Writing Process for Young Students who Use Braille
Step / Level of Support / Suggested ScaffoldsPlanning / Independent and/or Supported / · Oral discussion
· Simple list of important words or ideas
Drafting / Independent / · Precede independent writing with oral rehearsal, if needed.
Revising (Initial) / Independent / · Have child read draft and mark one or more sentences where a revision could be made.
Editing (Initial) / Independent / · Have child read draft and mark capitalization, punctuation, and spelling errors with a crayon.
Revising / Editing Conference / Supported / · Discuss the child’s independent revision / editing marks. Assist with errors (including spelling) that the child did not mark. As you talk with the child, braille a perfect copy incorporating all the revision and editing changes.
Final Copy / Independent / · Have the child write a final version by copying from the teacher’s perfect copy.
Publishing / Independent and Supported / · If multiple copies of the piece or book will be published, or special formatting is needed, type the text, and emboss the copies.
· When publishing a book, assist the child in creating a title page and cover. Tactile or print pictures, a table of contents, or an index might also be included.
· Write an “About the Author” page using input from the child.
· Let the child participate in binding the book.
Parting Thoughts on Scaffolding
· Work at the cutting edge of a child's capability
· Focus on meaning first; preserve meaning during scaffolding (reading AND writing)
· Develop a range of cues
· Know your student: "What kind of prompt should I use with this reader at this point in development?" (Brown, 2003)
· Remember that problem solving opportunities are more important than accuracy
References
Brown, K.J. (2003). What do I say when they get stuck on a word? Aligning teachers' prompts with students' development. The Reading Teacher, 56(8), 720-733.
Cole, A. D.. (2006). Scaffolding beginning readers: Micro and macro cues teachers use during student oral reading. The Reading Teacher 59(5): 459-459.
Fountas, C. and Pinnell, G.S. (2012/2013). Guided reading: The romance and the reality. The Reading Teacher, 66(4), 268-284.
Zumbrunn, S. & Krause, K. (2012). Conversations with leaders: Principles of effective writing instruction. The Reading Teacher, 65(5), 346-351.