Who's Doing All The Work? ~ Introduction

The authors of this book set the stage for changing my thinking on how to empower my instruction to create students who think, interact and respond to text independently. They say that the meaning of the term scaffolding has become too broad. It has become “a euphemism for the teacher doing much of the work” (p. 3). In my effort to scaffold learning for my students, I have unwittingly told them to wait until I prompt them to think and speak and interact with the text.

For example, my guided reading lessons follow the script from the kit. “Students, turn to page 3, Jesse likes to play with bugs. Do you see him playing with bugs on page 3?” The entire time I am introducing the book, I am prompting the students how to think, when to think and what to look for in the picture and the text. I definitely need to teach them how to preview the book independently so they can get the information they need to read the text. For example, making predictions, asking questions, and summarizing, to name a few.

The authors go on to say that they will be introducing me to Next Generation Reading Instruction. Next generation reading instruction will respond to the students need through their ability to be independent/dependent. It will give students “decision-making power” by teaching them that difficulty can be an opportunity and they can "begin to see the connection between their effort and their success” (p. 6).

Each of the chapters will talk about instructional contexts: read alouds; shared reading; guided reading and independent reading. By using the next generation reading instruction, teachers will empower students to become independent and proficient readers.

Follow the discussion for this book on Facebook: Literacy Teacher Book Club