Uncategorized

Building Comprehension Through Scaffolded Reading

From Scaffolded Writing to Scaffolded Reading In my last post, I focused on scaffolded writing, emphasizing the importance of treating writing as a skill that must be explicitly taught, modeled, practiced, and gradually released. The same logic applies to reading and comprehension. If students cannot independently make sense of what they read, asking them to produce strong writing is premature. Reading is not a passive activity. Readers must have a set of skills that must be developed intentionally to understand what is being conveyed in the text. This post zooms i

Digital Multimodal Composition, Infographics

Why Students Should Analyze Infographics Before Creating Them

The Problem: Jumping Straight to Creation Imagine asking students to write a persuasive essay without ever reading one or trying to solve quadratic equations without seeing examples first. It sounds ridiculous, right? Yet many of us do this with infographics all the time without considering that another step may be necessary. The solution is simple: start with analysis, not creation. In my recent post titled, How I Design Infographics for Multimodal Learning Projects in Canva, I shared how infographics support student learning by functioning as instructional tools and a

Small Group Instruction

How Often Should I Use Small Groups?

Small group instruction is a great way to address the academic needs of students, particularly those who have deficiencies that hinder them from making progress. However, knowing how often to use them as an intervention is key. The idea of using small groups seems like a very simple concept, but results actually depend on the amount of planning that occurs prior to actually facilitating small groups. Being proactive about learning students' strengths and weaknesses early on is helpful when trying to determine how frequently they should be used as an intervention. Having a