One way to scaffold mindful silent reading is by teaching students a set of prompts or procedures to use as they read. This type of scaffolding helps students to engage in mindful reading but gradually releases tothem the responsibility for using a variety of cognitive strategies, such as activating prior knowledge and questioning the author. A sample lesson is shown below.
Another way to scaffold silent reading forcomprehension is to teach six signals that indicate a need for comprehension repair. These signals function as prompts for struggling readers to help them internalize and routinizecomprehension monitoring.
Sample Lesson for Scaffolding Silent Reading
(15-20 minutes)
First Read
Teacher script
Before you read, think about what you already know about the topic. Also look for two words that might be challenging. Underline those words or put a sticky arrow on them.
Student action
Students skim through the text looking for challenging words. They underline them or put down a sticky arrow.
___________
Teacher script
Now read the passage silently. If you finish readingbefore others, please write a sentence telling the mainidea of the passage on your whiteboard.
Student action
Students take as much time asthey need to read the passagesilently.
__________
Teacher script
Now that you have read the passage, write down a few words or phrases that will help you remember what is important about the topic.
Student action
Students jot down their key words or phrases or construct or complete a simple graphic organizer.
Second Read
Teacher script
Now I’m going to read the selection aloud as you read along silently. Follow along with me. (Teacher reads the passage aloud at the target rate per minute.)
Student action
Students follow along as theteacher reads orally.
__________
Teacher script
What is one thing the author wants you to remember from this selection? Write it on your whiteboard.
Student action
Students write down what theythink the author wants them toremember on a whiteboard or intheir reading journal.
Third Read
Teacher script
Now read the selection one more time. Your goal is to read as much of the passage as you can in one minute. (Teacher stops the reading after one minute and tells students to circle or put down a sticky arrow on the last word they read before time was called.)
Student action
Students read the passage silently.
Students circle or put down asticky arrow on the last word read.
__________
Teacher script
Write a question on your white board that you would like to ask the author if he or she were here in the classroom with us.
Student action
Students write their questions.
__________
Teacher script
Let’s ask each other some of these questions and see if we can read the author’s mind.
Source: Adapted from Heibert (2003) and Heibert and Fisher (2002).
One caveat before you are tempted to give your struggling students a handout with these six signals listed and announce that whenever these things happen, theyneed to refocus their attention. Struggling readers won’t know what you are talking about. They hear no inner voices. They see no cameras or video recorders. Start from scratch and think aloud for students about one signal at a time. Explain very clearly what your inner voice is saying to you at various times. Tell them precisely where you zoned out and started thinking about what you were going to have for lunch. Then as you work with them in scaffolded silent reading groups, stop the reading every fiveminutes to talk about what their inner voices were saying when you called time. After spending a week or two with the inner-voice prompt, try the camera prompt. These will be new insights for your students and perhaps even for you as a reader.
