Scaffolding is a Must!

I found Frey and Fisher's article, Identifying Instructional Moves During Guided Learning, incredibly interesting to read. What stuck out the most to me was the idea that scaffolding allows the teacher to guide their students along, while allowing the students to do their own thinking. I have been in a couple of classrooms where the teacher did not always take the time to guide their students by probing with multiple types of questions, or by providing cues, etc. Instead (for time's sake) they would go straight to the direct explanation. I think it is vital to use scaffolds in order to promote developmental thinking and understanding for students. If we just give them all the answers, how will they learn to think for themselves??
Want some other strategies for scaffolding instruction? Click Here!

Assessment

What stuck out to me the most in Cunningham and Allington's chapter (10) about Assessment, was the importance of assessing and documenting your students' progress continuously throughout the year instead of just once or twice a year. I think that this is so important, because when you are more aware of each individual student's abilities, you as a teacher are better able to help them in the areas where they are lacking.

Need to know the reading level of a book? Or help a student find a book appropriate for their reading level? Check out this site! http://www.scholastic.com/bookwizard/