Investigating Research on Scaffolding of Reading Comprehension and Vocabulary in Elementary Classrooms

• In Event: Poster Session 5
  In Poster Session: Vocabulary Research and Instruction

Abstract

This review synthesizes literature examining purposes, processes, and outcomes of teacher-initiated scaffolding moves that guide elementary-level students in developing reading comprehension and vocabulary skills. Since the 1970s, researchers (e.g., Cazden, 1979; Mehan, 1979; Vygotsky, 1978; Wood, Bruner, & Ross, 1976) have asked questions to determine the impact of scaffolding on children’s literacy development that have advanced the field’s understanding and abilities to grow children’s literacy through increasingly effective scaffolding moves. Yet, variation in the conceptualization, processes, and purposes of scaffolding lead researchers to investigate how teachers scaffold using a wide range of research questions and methodologies. The purpose of this paper is to identify where and how researchers align and differ in understandings of scaffolding across perspectives, designs, and findings.

Authors

• Brie Doyle, University of Maryland - College Park

• Shannon Mary Daniel, Vanderbilt University - Peabody College