Scaffolding Support When Readers Get Stuck

The Goldilocks Level of Support When Readers Get Stuck

            In this article in The Reading Teacher, Clara Mikita, Emily Rodgers, Rebecca Berenbon, and Christa Walker (The Ohio State University) take a close look at how teachers scaffold beginning readers when they stumble on an unknown word. Prompting skills are most important in guided reading groups (with teachers focusing on one student at a time) and in one-on-one tutoring. The authors identify a continuum of support when students encounter difficulty:

-   Prompting – “Try that again.” “Were you right?” The teacher provides no information and asks the student to solve the problem.

-   Prompting with information – “You said ___” “Check that word.” The teacher provides some general information, but the student must decide what to do with it.

-   Directing – “Does it look right in the middle?” “Try that again and see if it sounds right.” The teacher provides specific information about what the student can use or do, but the student must solve the problem.

-   Demonstrating – The teacher provides all the information needed, but the student must figure out what to do with it.

-   Telling – “The word is department.” The teacher provides all the information and the student doesn’t need to do anything.

Within the first four levels of support, skillful teachers listen closely for the type of mistake students are making and give the minimum amount of support needed so students do the heavy lifting. This is key, say the authors, because the more work the teacher does for students, the less they will develop as readers. But if a student is struggling, the teacher moves along the continuum of support until the student is successful.

            Mikita, Rodgers, Berenbon, and Walker suggest three kinds of prompts, geared to the errors teachers observe:

• Meaning – “What would make sense? “That looks right, but does it make sense?”

• Structure – “Does that sound right?” “Try that again and see if it sounds right.”

• Visual – “Does it look right in the middle?” “Do you see a part that can help you?”

“Targeting Prompts When Scaffolding Word Solving During Guided Reading” by Clara Mikita, Emily Rodgers, Rebecca Berenbon, and Christa Walker in The Reading Teacher, May/June 2019 (Vol. 72, #6, p. 745-749), https://bit.ly/2JgRyLR; Mikita can be reached at mikita.4@buckeyemail.osu.edu.

(Please Note: The summary above is reprinted with permission from issue #786 of 
The Marshall Memo, an excellent resources for educators.)