Scaffolds for learning to read in an inclusion classroom

Purpose: This article describes a study on the scaffolding of learning to r ead in a primary-level, continuous-progress, inclusion classroom that stres sed a critical thinking curriculum and employed a collaborative teaching mo del. Two emergent reading groups were the focus of study-one group that was taught by a general educator and the other by a special educator. The prim ary purposes were to discern the teachers' discourse patterns in order to d efine whether scaffolding sequences were more directive or more supportive and the degree to which these sequences represented differentiated instruct ion for children with a language learning disability (LLD). Method: Two students with an LLD and two younger, typically developing peer s were videotaped in their emergent reading groups during an 8-week period. The distribution, types, and functions of teacher scaffolding sequences we re; examined. Results: Both team members primarily used directive scaffolding sequences, suggesting that the assistance provided to children emphasized only direct instruction (skill learning) and not analytical:thinking concerning phoneme grapheme relationships (strategy learning). Distribution of scaffolding seq uence types directed to the four students indicated that the two children w ith an LLD were receiving reading instruction that Was undifferentiated fro m the two typically developing, younger children. Clinical Implications: In order for children with an LLD to benefit from in clusion, explicit, systematic, and intensive instruction in phonological aw areness and spelling-sound relationships should be implemented within the,c ontext of multilevel instruction that balances skill- and strategy-based le arning.