1. Implementing Scaffolded Reading Experiences in Multilingual Classrooms
Michael F. Graves
Professor or Literacy Education, Emeritus
University of Minnesota
Paper presented at the symposium on Teaching and Learning in Linguistically and Culturally Diverse Classrooms: Bringing Theory and Research to Practice. Chaired by Julie Coppola and Elizabeth Primas. IRA Annual Convention, Atlanta, GA, May 4, 2008

2. Mike Graves, University of Minnesota
Underlying Beliefs
Teaching students to read in the first language promotes higher levels of reading achievement in English.
What we know about good instruction and curriculum in general holds good for English learners as well.
English learners require instructional accommodations when instructed in English.
(Goldenberg, in press)
Mike Graves, University of Minnesota

3. Possible Accommodations
Predictable and consistent classroom management routines
Graphic organizers that make content and concept relationships visually explicit
Additional time and opportunities for practice
Redundant key information in non-visual forms
Identifying and clarifying difficult passages
Helping students consolidate text knowledge
Providing extra practice
Providing frequent interaction with teachers and peers
Adjusting rate, sentence complexity, and language expectations
(Goldenberg, in press) 3 3

4. The Scaffolded Reading Experience—1
The Scaffolded Reading Experience (SRE) suggests a number of accommodations specifically for reading.
It is a very flexible instructional framework for helping students understand, learn from, and enjoy the texts they read.
The SRE framework suggests the types of before reading, during reading, and after reading activities you may choose to use.
SREs can be used with students in multilingual classrooms, of various ages, and with various proficiency levels.
Mike Graves, University of Minnesota 4 4

5. The Scaffolded Reading Experience—2
SREs can be used with all sorts of texts: short stories, magazine articles, poetry, chapters in books, and whole books.
SREs can help students (1) read a text they could not otherwise read, (2) read a text more easily or in less time, (3) learn more than they would without the scaffold, and (4 ) better enjoy the reading.
Mike Graves, University of Minnesota

6. The SRE Framework
From Jill Figzgerald and Michael F. Graves. (2004). Scaffolding Reading Experiences: Designs for Success (2nd ed.). Norwood, MA: Christopher-Gordon.

7. Possible Prereading Activities
Motivating
Activating background knowledge
Building background knowledge
Providing text-specific knowledge
Relating the reading to students' lives
Preteaching vocabulary
Preteaching concepts
Prequestioning, predicting, and direction setting
Suggesting strategies
Using students' native language
Involving ELLs communities, parents, and siblings
Mike Graves, University of Minnesota

8. Possible During-Reading Activities
Reading to students
Silent reading
Supported reading
Oral reading by students
Modifying the text
Using students' native language
Involving ELL communities, parents, and siblings
Mike Graves, University of Minnesota

9. Possible Postreading Activities
Questioning
Discussion
Writing
Drama
Artistic, graphic, and nonverbal activities
Application and outreach activities
Building connections
Reteaching
Using students' native language
Involving ELL communities, parents, and siblings
Mike Graves, University of Minnesota

10. The Thinking Behind SREs: Scaffolding
A scaffold is a temporary supportive structure that teachers create to help students accomplish a task that they could not complete alone.
A scaffold can also aid students by helping them to better complete a task, complete a task with less stress or in less time, or learn more fully than they otherwise would.
Mike Graves, University of Minnesota

11. The Thinking Behind SREs: The Critical Importance of Success
Unless students succeed at the vast majority of tasks we ask them to do in school, they are not likely to continue to try.
Success begets success and failure begets failure.
Mike Graves, University of Minnesota

12. The Thinking Behind SREs: The Necessity of Appropriate Challenges
That students need success does not mean they should not face challenges.
What students need are reasonable challenges that they can meet.
With the scaffolding SREs provide, students can meet many challenges they could not meet without the scaffolding.
Mike Graves, University of Minnesota

13. The Thinking Behind SREs: The Zone of Proximal Development
There are some tasks that students can succeed at without teachers’ help. Asking students to do such tasks provides practice.
There are other tasks that students will not be able to complete despite the help of teachers. Asking students to do these tasks without giving them assistance leads to failure.
What we need much of the time is tasks that students can succeed at with our assistance. Working with students on such tasks puts them in what has been called the “zone of proximal development.”
Mike Graves, University of Minnesota

14. The Thinking Behind SREs: The Gradual Release of Responsibility
(Pearson & Gallagher, 1983)

15. Mike Graves, University of Minnesota
An SRE for a Simple Text
Prereading
Motivating
During Reading
Silent reading
Postreading
Discussion
Building connections
Mike Graves, University of Minnesota

16. Mike Graves, University of Minnesota
An SRE for a Difficult Text
Prereading
Motivating
Preteaching concepts
Suggesting strategies
During Reading
Reading to students
Supported reading
Postreading
Discussion
Questioning
Artistic activity
Mike Graves, University of Minnesota

17. An SRE for a Challenging Science Chapter
Prereading Activities
During Reading Activities
Postreading Activities
Motivating: Students act out the motion of a wave by doing the wave.
Reading to Students: Read the first section of the chapter aloud.
Discussion and Writing: Small groups including English learners and native speakers discuss the chapter.
Preteaching Concepts: Teach the concepts amplitude and frequency.
Supported Reading: Provide Spanish speaking students with a list of the headings in Spanish.
Writing: The same small groups outline the chapter in Spanish and English.
Building Text-Specific Knowledge: Use the headings in the chapter to preview it.
Silent Reading: Students read the chapter independently, calling on the teacher for help if needed.
Discussion: The class as a whole discusses the major concepts of the chapter.
Using Students’ Native Language: Translate the headings, and preview the chapter in Spanish for Spanish speaking students.
Reteaching: Reteach some or all of the major concepts as necessary.
Writing: Students in pairs write an imaginative tale in which a wave goes berserk

18. Mike Graves, University of Minnesota
Decisions and Challenges in Implementing SREs
The frequency of SREs
How much scaffolding to provide
How often to differentiate instruction
Providing a balance of challenging and easy reading
Tailoring postreading tasks to ensure success
Involving students in constructing SREs
Mike Graves, University of Minnesota 18 18

19. Mike Graves, University of Minnesota
Assessing the Effects of SREs Using Story Maps
The Story Map—A series of questions that on the most important ideas in a selection in the order in which they occur (Beck & McKeown, 1981)
Extension Questions—Several questions that to beyond the story itself and ask students to
Relate information in the reading to their lives
Relate information in the reading to other things they are learning
Making inferences and judgments
Mike Graves, University of Minnesota 19 19

20. Using SREs to Foster Higher Level Thinking
Designing tasks in keeping with Resnick's (1987) characterization of higher order thinking
Deliberately including the tasks described in Bloom's Taxonomy (Anderson & Krathwohl, 2001)
Including Sternberg's three types of thinking (Sternberg & Spear- Swerling, 1996)
Analytic thinking
Creative thinking
Practical thinking 20 20

21. Mike Graves, University of Minnesota
Research on the Effectiveness of SREs:
3rd grade students reading folktales (Liang, Peterson, & Graves, 2005)
4th and 5th grade children reading grade-appropriate picture books (Clark & Graves, 2008)
7th grade students reading short stories (Fournier & Graves, 2002)
7th grade students reading multicultural stories (Cooke, 2002)
8th and 9th grade students with learning difficulties reading Shakespeare (Rothenberg & Watts, 1997)
typical 10th graders reading a challenging novel and gifted 12th graders reading a challenging play (Graves & Lange, 2003).
Mike Graves, University of Minnesota 21 21

22. Summing Up
The SRE is a flexible instructional framework that suggests the different sorts of before, during, and after reading activities you might use as students read a text.
In all, the SRE framework suggests 22 different types of activities you might use.
It is specifically designed to accommodate different students, purposes, and tasks. You pick the activities to use by considering your students, the text they are reading, and the purpose of the reading.
It is not the case that more activities are better or that fewer activities are better. You choose the activities that will help your students achieve success with the particular text they are reading at the time.

23. Mike Graves, University of Minnesota
Additional Information on SREs
Online Reading Resources: onlinereadingresources.com
Fitzgerald & Graves. (2004). Scaffolding
Reading Experiences for English Language
Learners. Christopher-Gordon.
Available at christopher-gordon.com
Clark, K. F., & Graves, M. F. (2005). Scaffolding students' comprehension of text. The Reading Teacher, 56,
Mike Graves, University of Minnesota

25. Mike Graves, University of Minnesota
References
Anderson, L. W., & Krathwohl, D. R. (2001). A taxonomy for learning, teaching, and assessing: A revision of Bloom’s Taxonomy of Educational Objectives: New York: Longman.
Beck, I. & McKeown, M. G. (1981). Developing questions that promote comprehension: The story map. Language Arts, 58(8),
Clark, K. F., & Graves, M. F. (2008). Open and directed text mediation in literature instruction: Effects on comprehension and attitudes. Australian Journal of Language and Literacy, 31 (1).
Clark, K. F., & Graves, M. F. (2005). Scaffolding students' comprehension of text. The Reading Teacher, 56,
Cooke, C. L. (2002, December). The effects of scaffolding multicultural short stories on students' comprehension and attitudes. Paper presented at the 51st Annual Meeting of the National Reading Conference, Miami.
Fournier, D. N. E., & Graves, M. F. (2002). Scaffolding adolescents' comprehension of short stories. Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy, 40,
Fitzgerald, J. & Graves, M. F. (2004). Scaffolding reading experiences for English-language learners. Norwood, MA: Christopher-Gordon. .
Mike Graves, University of Minnesota

26. Mike Graves, University of Minnesota
References
Goldenberg, C. (in press). Improving achievement for English learners. Conclusions from recent reviews and emerging research. In S. Neuman (Ed.), Literacy achievement for young children from poverty. Baltimore, Brookes.
Graves, M. F., & Liang, L. A. (2003). On-line resources for fostering understanding and higher-level thinking in senior high school students. In Schallert, D. L., Fairbanks, C. M., Worthy, J. Maloch, B., & Hoffman, J. V. (Eds.), 51st Yearbook of the National Reading Conference Yearbook (pp ).
Liang, L. A., Peterson, C., & Graves, M. F. (2005). Investigating two approaches to fostering children's comprehension of literature. Reading Psychology, 26,
Pearson, P. D., & Gallagher, M. C. (1983). The instruction of reading comprehension. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 8,
Resnick, L. B. (1987). Education and learning to think. Washington, DC: New Academy Press.
Rothenberg, S. S., & Watts, S. M. (1997). Students with learning difficulties meet Shakespeare: Using a scaffolded reading experience. Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy, 40,
Sternberg, R. J., & Spear-Swerling, L. (1996). Teaching for thinking. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
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