Resources: Scaffolding Language Scaffolding Learning Pauline Gibbons / Learning to Learn in a Second Language Pauline Gibbons / Reading Resource

Book, First Steps BEFORE READING ACTIVITIES Purpose: to prepare for linguistic, cultural and conceptual difficulties and to activate prior knowledge. Aim to develop knowledge in relation to overall meaning of the text, not areas of difficulties. Talk about the topic of the book Discuss the topic of the text with students adult shares their own experience of the topic of the text. If possible use the same tense as the text uses. eg for Cat on the Roof: Does anyone have a cat? My friend had a cat and it was a very naughty cat. One day it climbed up a tree and my friend thought it was stuck. What do you think she did? Predict from an illustration Talk about the illustration on the front cover, or a key illustration from the book Ask the children to work in pairs or groups to think about what the story might be about Use some of the vocabulary of the book that children might find difficult Title/Picture Connection How is the title connected to the picture? Sequencing illustrations Give groups/ pairs of children a set of pictures from the book and ask them to sequence them, prior to reading Predict from a word Read the title of the book Ask what the children think the story is going to be about What might the problem be in the book? Ask questions about the topic of the book Ask questions about the topic of the book, but relating to the childrens own experiences. E.g. Possum Magic What do you like to eat? What do you eat at home? Brainstorm what the children already know about the topic Develop word banks and display vocabulary about the topics you are studying Use a semantic web to display these words Reader Questions Ask the children to pose some questions they would like answered by reading the text Story Telling Tell the story, using the illustrations or diagrams you draw, before you read the book Before and After Chart Piece of paper with 2 columns, brainstorm all you know about the topic, list in before column, what I know about ... After reading add to second column What we have learnt. Can be completed over time. Picture Flick Before reading, skim through the illustrations and get a sense of contents, characters or setting. Look at the front cover, skim through text browsing at pictures, predict the story, read the text, discuss the difference between the prediction and what happened. Graphic Overlay Teaches students about text organisation for nonfiction. Create a visual representation of the layout or organisation of the page, label boxes e.g. heading, title, subtitle, picture, text information